When Iraq 's political elite finally agreed in August to replace the divisive and sectarian Maliki as Prime Minister , the Iranian leadership—along with the United States and most Western powers—threw their weight behind his successor , Haider al-Abadi . Mohamad Bazzi says Iran is free to exercise power in vacuum created by fall of Saddam Hussein . He says Iraq was a secular state that had no religious or ethnic basis for its rule and
Mohamad Bazzi says Iran is free to exercise power in vacuum created by fall of Saddam Hussein . He says Iraq was a secular state that had no religious or ethnic basis for its rule and