With the defeat of IS and Kurdish independence ambitions thwarted, many see a positive mood in Iraq. Yet major obstacles of corruption, sectarianism, and nepotism limit Iraq’s capacity to recover from war and destruction. As soon as campaigning began on 14 April for parliamentary elections, people pulled down pictures of fighters killed in combat and replaced the images with their own posters, causing major controversy. The following day a car bomb targeted an election candidate in Kirkuk, killing one and wounding eleven. Iraq elections have typically been accompanied by violence since the removal of Saddam Hussein. 7,000 candidates have registered to stand for 329 parliamentary seats, in the fourth election since 2003. Iraq is the 12th most corrupt country in the world. On 15 April the US defence secretary accused Iran of funnelling money into Iraq to sway election outcomes, calling it part of a broader pattern of destabilising Iranian actions across the Middle East. See also