The controversial decision by Iraq's Supreme Federal Court to oust the parliament speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi, deepened the country's political crises and sowed division among the Iraqis and foreign diplomatic missions.

On Tuesday, 14 November, Iraq's top court revoked the parliamentary membership of Iraq's parliament speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi, on charges of forgery, ending the powerful Sunni politician's tenure.

But  the US ambassador in Baghdad, Alina Romanowski has intervened in the crisis. She met with the head of Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Faiq Zidan, on 16 November. Romanowski stated that she discussed recent developments and the security situation in Iraq with Zidan. In a post on her official social media account, she emphasised the importance of having an independent judiciary that follows legal procedures and bases its decisions on the Iraqi constitution.

Romanowski also met with the ousted Speaker of Parliament, Mohammed al-Halbousi, referring to him as the Parliament Speaker in a post on X social media platform.

"Met with Speaker Mohammad al-Halbousi to better understand recent developments and the security situation in Iraq, "she wrote.

Many Iraqi social media users negatively reacted to Romanowski's comments and considered it "defying" the decision by Iraq's top court and interfering in the country's internal issues.

The New Arab contacted the US embassy in Iraq for comment via email but did receive an answer at the time of writing.

The federal court's decision followed a legal action initiated by Laith al-Dulaimi, another Sunni parliamentarian, who accused Halbousi, also leader of the Taqadum [Progress] party, the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, of forging his resignation letter.

The court decided to terminate the membership in parliament for both al-Halbousi and al-Dulaimi. The top court also ruled out that the decision would be put into practice immediately, bound to all authorities, and not subject to appeal.