As fissures within a powerful paramilitary force go public for the first time and a revolving door of top politicians consults Tehran, Iraq's fragile political balance is crumbling, analysts say, with worrying consequences for its premier.
It has been a shaky 11 months for Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi's government since it was painstakingly stitched together in the prolonged wake of May 2018 elections.
The administration's power rests on the curious coupling of firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr with Fatah, the political arm of the Hashed al-Shaabi armed network.