Beyond the Headlines: What will happen after Iraq's turbulent week?

On Monday August 29, Iraq came closer to civil war than it has for years. The fears of many Iraqis that political tension would spill into violence were coming true.

Eleven months after parliamentary elections, government formation is still held up by complete political gridlock. Violent clashes took place between the followers of Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and members of militias affiliated with the Co-ordination Framework led by former Iraqi prime minister Nouri Al Maliki; 30 Iraqis lost their lives.

However, by Tuesday afternoon, Mr Al Sadr had called back his followers from the streets and restated his intention to “retire from politics”. Since then, Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi has threatened to resign, which would add further chaos to Iraq’s political scene.

In this week’s episode of Beyond The Headlines, The National’s Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi discusses these developments and what could come next, with guests Chairman of the Iraqi Advisory Council Farhad Alaaldin and Senior Foreign Reporter Mina Aldroubi.