Nouri al-Maliki has agreed to step aside as prime minister of Iraq in response to the growing pressure within his Dawa Party, as well as the opposition of the Shiite leader Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and the growing diplomatic pressure from the United States and a significant number of Arab and other states.
What probably made him reverse his insistence on remaining in the post was the immediate Iranian and US recognition of his replacement, Haider al-Abadi.