LONDON, Mar 31 (AFP): Former Iraqi premier Iyad Allawi accused neighbouring Iran Tuesday of seeking to prevent him becoming prime minister again, after his bloc emerged strongest from national elections.
Tehran was interfering in the election process in Iraq, where his Iraqiya bloc won 91 seats in the 325-member Council of Representatives, two more than Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law Alliance, he told the BBC.
"Iran is interfering quite heavily and this is worrying," Allawi told the British broadcaster, accusing the Islamic republic of inviting all the major parties to Tehran apart from his bloc.
"They have invited everybody -- but they haven't invited us -- to Tehran," he said.
Asked directly whether Iran wanted to stop him becoming prime minister, Allawi responded: "I think so, they made it very clear... that they have a red line.
"We are concerned about respecting the will of the Iraqi people."
Neither Iraqiya nor State of Law clinched an overall parliamentary majority and a protracted period of coalition building, which could take months, is now expected.
Allawi accuses Iran of interference
FE Team | Published: April 01, 2010 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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