Yesterday, Iraqi President Barham Salih, the former governor of Najaf, Adnan al-Zorfi, was assigned to form a new government within 30 days in Iraq, as missiles once again targeted a base housing foreign forces, in the third similar attack in less than a week.

Members of the Iraqi parliament said that President Barham Saleh did not charge Zarrafi until after the major competing Shiite political parties failed to decide on who would succeed Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who resigned last November during massive unrest that killed hundreds.

Al-Zarfi, who lived in the United States as a refugee in the 1990s after fleeing the former regime, is seen as a relatively secular figure in a country dominated by sectarian parties for a long time.

He must now gain the confidence of Parliament in his new government, which is a difficult task, due to the opposition of the main groups supported by Iran to his appointment.

A Shiite member of parliament, who asked not to be named, said that Al-Zarfi will face stiff resistance in parliament, and he will need a miracle to agree to his government.

If Al-Zarfi is able to obtain the approval of Parliament from his government, he will take over the administration of the country, so that early elections can be held.

Al-Zarfi (54 years old) is the second politician assigned by the Iraqi president to form a government since Abdul-Mahdi announced his resignation. Al-Zarfi’s assignment came after Muhammad Tawfiq Allawi, who was commissioned on February 1, apologized for forming the government, but withdrew his candidacy for the post a month later, accusing political parties of blocking him, and thus the government of Adel Abdul-Mahdi, resigned since December, is still conducting business.

Al-Zarfi was a conservative of Shi’ite predominantly Najaf, and chaired the small “victory” bloc in parliament to which former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi belongs.

This mandate comes after the Seven Committee (composed of the seven most prominent Shiite blocs in the Iraqi parliament) failed to agree on a unified name to form the government.

The head of the "Saeron" coalition, Nabil Al-Tarfi, announced in a statement on Monday that the committee had not reached an agreement to choose a candidate to assign him to form the government, instead of the current resigned government, calling on the president to "exercise his constitutional powers by assignment."

On the other hand, two rockets landed on a military base sheltering foreign forces near Baghdad, as the Iraqi army announced, yesterday, in the third such attack in less than a week.

The two missiles targeted late Monday, Basmaya camp, located 60 km south of Baghdad, where part of the elements of the Spanish unit is stationed in the international coalition led by Washington and NATO forces.

The base also includes American, British, Canadian and Australian forces, who are particularly training Iraqi soldiers to shoot and operate tanks.

Since late October, about 24 similar attacks have targeted foreign forces in Iraq, which no party has yet claimed, but Washington attributes to the pro-Iranian Hezbollah factions.

The Iraqi forces, which rely on the support of the international coalition led by Washington in combating the remnants of militants on its soil, confirm that they have never been able to reveal the identity of the attackers, despite declaring each time that the missile platform was seized.

On Thursday, the Hezbollah Brigades welcomed the missile strikes that killed American soldiers and a British female soldier on Wednesday, without adopting the attack.

On Thursday night, Washington responded with strikes targeting bases of the Hezbollah Brigades, as confirmed by the United States.

These attacks and counterattacks increase fears of escalation in Iraq.

In January, the United States responded to the killing of an American with missile attacks in late 2019, with the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and Deputy Chairman of the Popular Mobilization Organization, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in a US strike in Baghdad, which prompted Iran to target a missile base that harbored Americans in Iraq.

Al-Zarfi’s assignment comes after the Seven Committee failed to agree on a unified name to form the government.

Al-Zarfi has 30 days to form a government, gain the confidence of Parliament, and organize early parliamentary elections.

Al-Zarfi is a former governor of Najaf and heads the small "victory" bloc in Parliament.