Iran, a long time supporter of Nuri al-Maliki, has signaled it’s support for the newly selected Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi.

Tehran (AFP) – Iran officially ended its long-time allegiance to Iraq’s sidelined Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday, swinging its support behind newly designated premier Haidar al-Abadi in a congratulatory message.  

Even Iran has lost confidence in al-Malaki.

Iran’s Shamkhani called on “all groups and coalitions in Iraq to protect the national interest,” taking into account the need to “deal with external threats”

Iran has expressed support for Maliki throughout the battle against Islamic State militants, but always said it would back the Baghdad parliament’s choice of prime minister.

The calls for unity have long been interpreted as indicating that key figures in Tehran thought Maliki had failed to keep a handle on Iraq’s delicate religious balance of Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and other sects.

This leaves al-Maliki few if any options as the Iranians will certainly not let him try to pull off a military coup.  In addition the military has made it clear they will not support al-Maliki,  as one high ranking military official said “we are the Iraqi army not the al-Maliki army”.  Iran has a lot of high ranking military personnel in the Green Zone and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them quietly whisk al-Maliki  away at the proper time.