ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US embassy in Baghdad said late Tuesday that Washington supports recent calls for a national dialogue between Iraq’s political parties to de-escalate the tensions. “The United States supports recent calls urging all parties to participate in constructive national dialogue that could lead to de-escalation of current tensions. We re-affirm our support for peaceful protest and encourage all parties to adhere to non-violence and the rule of law in exercising their rights under the constitution,” said the embassy in a statement published on Facebook. Iraq held snap parliamentary elections in October but the political parties have failed to elect a president and a prime minister for the country due to disagreements. The influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose movement became the main winner of the vote by gaining 73 seats, ordered all his parliamentarians last month to resign from the parliament. They were later replaced by winning candidates from other political parties. Sadr’s withdrawal from the legislature made the pro-Iran Coordination Framework the largest coalition. The latter announced Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, Iraq’s former minister of labour and social affairs, as their candidate for the country’s prime minister position late last month. Claiming that Sudani is a “corrupt” politician, Sadrists have rejected his nomination. They have held small and large protests and attacked the offices of the political parties which are part of the Coordination Framework in recent days. Sadr supporters stormed the parliament for the second time in less than a week on Saturday, beginning an open-ended sit-in inside the building of the legislature. The Sadrist Movement on Tuesday called on supporters to leave the parliament building and move their activities to in front of and around the building. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and some key figures from the Coordination Framework, have called for a national dialogue to end the political deadlock, with Kadhimi warning that it could cause “dire consequences.” French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday expressed support for Kadhimi’s call, saying he is “very concerned about the situation in Iraq.”
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