BAGHDAD — Recent efforts to form a new Iraqi government have all failed to yield results despite the formation of a majority bloc of Muqtada Sadr’s Shiite group, Masoud Barazani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party and Muhammad Halbousi’s Sunni alliance.

The political deadlock is caused by Iranian-backed militias and groups such as Coordination Framework (CF), its Kurdish ally the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and few Sunni members with ties to Iran. The Iranian-backed CF is leveraging its "blocking third" votes to halt the political process of electing a new president and prime minister, creating a new wave of anti-Iranian sentiment among the Iraqi public.

On April 17, a demonstration erupted in the poor and neglected Sadr City, where Muqtada al-Sadr enjoys popular support. The protesters chanted slogans against Iran first used by Sadrists in 2015, when they penetrated the Green Zone in Baghdad.

More protests were held in Firdos Square in the heart of Baghdad, where many young activists gathered to chant against foreign interference in the government's formation and voice their displeasure with the blocking third.