President of Iraq

Last updated: April 2026 · Status: Ceremonial head of state · Age: 58

Nizar Amidi, President of Iraq (since April 12, 2026)

Nizar Mohammed Saeed Amidi (born 8 February 1968) is the tenth President of Iraq, in office since 12 April 2026, and the fourth consecutive Kurdish head of state under Iraq’s post-2003 political settlement. Under the informal muhasasa ta’ifia (sectarian quota) adopted in 2005, the presidency is reserved for a Kurd, the prime ministership for a Shia Arab, and the speakership of parliament for a Sunni Arab. The president has largely ceremonial powers: he signs laws passed by the Council of Representatives, promulgates executive decrees, and formally nominates the prime minister chosen by the largest parliamentary bloc. Real executive authority rests with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, who leads the Coordination Framework coalition of Iran-aligned Shia parties.

Amidi was born on 8 February 1968 in the district of Amedi in Mosul Province (now in the Duhok Governorate). He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Mosul in 1993 and worked as a physics teacher during the 1990s in Sulaymaniyah and Baghdad. A member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) since the 1990s, Amidi has held multiple senior positions in the post-2003 Iraqi federal state, including as a liaison between the Federal Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Chief of staff to four presidents

Amidi served as personal secretary to Jalal Talabani from 2005 to 2008, then as chief of staff and Director of the Office of the President of the Republic during Talabani’s presidency (2008–2014). He continued as chief of staff under Presidents Fuad Masum (2014–2018) and Barham Salih (2018–2022), and briefly at the start of Abdul Latif Rashid’s term in 2022. From December 2022 to October 2024 he served as Iraq’s Minister of Environment under Prime Minister al-Sudani, resigning to lead the PUK Political Bureau in Baghdad. As environment minister he launched the “National Strategy for the Protection and Improvement of the Environment in Iraq (2024–2030)” in partnership with UNDP and USAID.

The 2026 Election

Amidi’s election came five months after Iraq’s November 2025 parliamentary vote, after the traditional Kurdish power-sharing convention broke down. Under previous agreements, the PUK held the federal presidency while the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) held the Kurdistan Region presidency. In 2026 the KDP challenged that settlement by nominating Fuad Hussein for the federal presidency, deadlocking the parliamentary vote through December 2025 and February 2026 sessions and preventing the formation of a new government.

On 11 April 2026, the Council of Representatives elected Amidi in a second round of voting, 227 votes to 15 for Muthanna Amin of the Kurdistan Islamic Union. Amidi had led the first round with 208 votes, short of the 220-vote (two-thirds) constitutional threshold. He took office on 12 April 2026. The KDP subsequently announced it did not recognise his election as representing the Kurdish majority and would not engage with him.

“Iraq First” and regional posture

On taking office, Amidi pledged to govern on “Iraq First” principles, condemning strikes on Iraqi territory during the Israeli–U.S. war with Iran and backing regional peace efforts. His tenure begins against a backdrop of ongoing recovery from that conflict, continuing negotiations with Washington over the post-anti-ISIS coalition bilateral military advisory footprint, and unresolved tensions with Erbil over oil exports and budget transfers.

Frequently asked questions

Abdul Latif Rashid, Former President of Iraq (2022–2026)

Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid (Kurdish: Latîf Reşîd) is the ninth President of Iraq, in office since 17 October 2022, and the third consecutive Kurdish head of state under Iraq’s post-2003 political settlement. Under a 2005 constitutional convention — the muhasasa ta’ifia (sectarian quota) — the presidency is held by a Kurd, the prime ministership by a Shia Arab, and the speakership of parliament by a Sunni Arab. The president has largely ceremonial powers: he signs laws passed by the Council of Representatives, promulgates executive decrees, and formally nominates the prime minister chosen by the largest parliamentary bloc. Real executive authority rests with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, who leads the Coordination Framework coalition of Iran-aligned Shia parties. Rashid was born on 10 August 1944 in Sulaymaniyah, then part of the Kingdom of Iraq. He earned an engineering degree from the University of Liverpool in 1968 and a PhD in hydraulic engineering from the University of Manchester in 1976. A member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) since its 1975 founding, he spent the Saddam-era decades in Britain working on water-resources projects and as the PUK’s London-based international spokesman. After the 2003 US-led invasion he returned and served as Iraq’s Minister of Water Resources from 2003 to 2010, and from 2010 until 2022 as a senior adviser to former president Jalal Talabani and his successor Barham Salih.

The 2022 Election and the Coordination Framework

Rashid’s election came a year after Iraq’s October 2021 general vote produced a hung parliament. The Sadrist Movement of Moqtada al-Sadr, which won the most seats, attempted for nine months to form a “majority government” excluding Iran-aligned Shia blocs. After the strategy collapsed and Sadr’s followers briefly stormed the Republican Palace in August 2022, Sadr withdrew his MPs. The Coordination Framework — led by Nouri al-Maliki, Qais al-Khazali (Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq) and Hadi al-Amiri (Badr Organisation) — assembled a majority. The Council of Representatives elected Rashid over Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) candidate Reber Ahmed on the second round with 162 votes to 99. Rashid then nominated al-Sudani as prime minister; his cabinet took office on 27 October 2022.

Regional and Security Challenges

Rashid’s tenure has coincided with extraordinary regional turbulence. Iran-backed Iraqi militia attacks on US military personnel — more than 170 documented between October 2023 and late 2024 — culminated in a tit-for-tat exchange with US air strikes in early 2024 against Kataib Hezbollah leadership in Baghdad and Syria. Turkey has conducted repeated incursions into Iraqi Kurdistan to target PKK positions, including Operation Claw-Lock and its 2023 extension. Iraq has hosted successive rounds of Iraqi-Saudi-Iran talks that fed into the 2023 normalisation, and in April 2024 signed a long-delayed Strategic Framework Agreement review with Washington paving the way for the formal end of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition’s ground presence by September 2025.

Economy and Reconstruction

Iraq remains a petro-state: oil accounts for roughly 95% of federal revenue and 38% of GDP. Under the Rashid–al-Sudani government a historic three-year budget (2023–2025) totalling US$153 billion was passed — the largest in Iraqi history — alongside a deal to resume Kurdish oil exports through the Iraq–Turkey pipeline, suspended since March 2023 after an international arbitration ruling. Iraq’s reconstruction debt to Iran for electricity and gas — around US$11 billion — remains a source of tension with Washington sanctions policy, regularly renegotiated via waivers.