Two key legal measures in Iraq this year have demonstrated how minorities are quickly becoming key proxies in power-sharing disputes among Kurdish ruling parties. Importantly, the ruling Iran-backed Shiite Coordination Framework has exploited these rifts. By doing so, political actors in Baghdad seemingly aim to undermine the Kurdistan region—without compromising its viability within Iraq’s federal governing structure.

In a surprise move in Feb. 2024, Iraq’s top court abolished the 11 seats in the Kurdistan Parliament reserved for ethnic and religious minorities. While the decision was hailed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) decried the judgment as an attack on...