UPDATE 2030 GMT: Nuri al-Maliki’s from the broadcast from his supporters have now been released.

Al-Maliki begins, “I’m the head of the State of Law coalition, and I’m the head of the Dawa Party, and no one has the right to deal with us without my approval.”

Echoing his allies, he said that the nomination of Haidar al-Abadi as Prime Minister is unconstitutional: “This violation will open doors for all to violate the constitution and destroy the political process.”

He insisted that the Supreme Court had recognized his State of Law coalition as the largest bloc in Parliament, and thus its nomination of him to serve a third term should have been recognized.

UPDATE 1700 GMT: Nuri al-Maliki and about 30 of his political allies have tried to hit back through a televised address criticising the appointment of a new Prime Minister.

Khalaf Abdul-Samad said nominee Haider al-Abadi — like Maliki and Abdul-Samad, a member of the Dawa Party — “only represents himself”.

Maliki appeared in the video but his remarks were not broadcast.

UPDATE 1550 GMT: Footage, via Britain’s Channel 4 News, of an aid delivery to the 10,000s of Iraqis who have fled to Mount Sinjar after the Islamic State’s advance:

Jonathan Rugman of Channel 4 described how the helicopter came under fire by the Islamic State and the desperate position of refugees:

At one point I found myself dragging dehydrated children to the back of the helicopter for safety. Very distressing scenes.

Unbelievable scenes on Mt Sinjar. Saw small families trapped in middle of nowhere. Many of these people will die if not evacuated ASAP.

And footage from German journalists:

UPDATE 1535 GMT: The White House has already “forgotten” Nuri al-Maliki, as Vice President Joe Biden called Iraqi President Fuad Masum after the appointment of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Biden commended Masum over the transition “and reiterated President Obama’s repeated calls for the timely creation of a new, more inclusive government that will be able to address the legitimate concerns of all Iraqis”, stressing “Obama’s desire to boost coordination with a new Iraqi government and Iraqi Security Forces to roll back gains by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant”.

The White House statement never refers to al-Maliki.

UPDATE 1425 GMT: A reporter for the Kurdish outlet Rudaw stands in the no man’s land between Kurdish peshmerga and the Islamic State and tries to talk to the jihadists:

UPDATE 1315 GMT: Even as President Masum has been swearing in Prime Ministerial nominee Haider al-Abadi, Nuri al-Maliki is trying to block the move:

UPDATE 1215 GMT: The National Alliance bloc, made up of Iraq’s largest Shia parties, have nominated Deputy Speaker of Parliament Haider al-Abadi as Prime Minister.

In a letter to the President, the Alliance put forward al-Abadi, a former Minister of Communications and spokesman for the Dawa Party of current Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

A Presidential spokesman said al-Abadi will now be asked to form a Government.

Educated at the University of Manchester in Britain, Al-Abadi has been a presence in Iraqi politics since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. He was also rumored to be a Prime Ministerial candidate in 2006 and 2010. He was also the Chair of Parliament’s Finance Committee.

He broke the news on Twitter last night that the Alliance was close to naming a replacement for the embattled al-Maliki:

At the end of June, he tried to push the US into intervention by warning that Baghdad would turn to Iran if the Americans did not act:

We are waiting for the Americans to give us support,” he said. “If US air strikes [happen], we don’t need Iranian air strikes. If they don’t, then we may need Iranian strikes.

UPDATE 1045 GMT: On the military front, Kurdish forces and the Islamic State are fighting for control of the town of Jalawla in eastern Iraq.

The Islamic State’s jihadists took Jalawla, in Diyala Province about 70 miles from Baghdad, on Saturday. Kurdish peshmerga are using artillery in their counter-attack on the southern part of the town. Close-range fighting with Kalashnikovs and RPGs, including on rooftops and narrow alleys, is reported.

Reuters said on Sunday that 10 peshmarga were killed in a car bomb attack.

UPDATE 1025 GMT: US Secretary of State John Kerry, currently in Australia, has joined the American riposte (see earlier entry) to Prime Minister Maliki’s power play on Sunday night:

The government formation process is critical in terms of sustaining stability and calm in Iraq, and our hope is that Mr Maliki will not stir those waters….One thing all Iraqis need to know, that there will be little international support of any kind whatsoever for anything that deviates from the legitimate constitution process that is in place and being worked on now.

UPDATE 0625 GMT: The US steps up its military intervention:

The officials would not say which US agency is providing the arms or what weapons are being sent.

However, with one official saying the Pentagon is not involved, that points to provision by the Central Intelligence Agency.

US officials said that the deliveries would be light arms and ammunition, and that they are not currently considering missiles, armored vehicles, or helicopters.

UPDATE 0625 GMT: US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Brett McGurk put out a pointed riposte to Prime Minister al-Maliki’s speech, expressing American backing of President Fuad Masum:

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki set out the same line:

The United States fully supports President Fuad Masum in his role as guarantor of the Iraqi Constitution. We reaffirm our support for a process to select a Prime Minister who can represent the aspirations of the Iraqi people by building a national consensus and governing in an inclusive manner. We reject any effort to achieve outcomes through coercion or manipulation of the constitutional or judicial process.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has deployed special forces at key points in Baghdad as he tries to retain power.

Soon after Parliament failed yet again to renew his term or name a replacement, al-Maliki appeared on State TV to denounce the new President, Fuad Masum.

“Today I will file a formal complaint to the federal court against the president,” he declared, as he said he would not halt his bid for a third term in office.

Maliki has been under increasing pressure since an insurgent offensive in early June seized Iraq’s second city Mosul and others like Tikrit and advanced on the capital.

Haider al-Abadi, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, insisted on Monday that a bloc of Iraq’s largest Shia parties was close to nominating a new Prime Minister.

Parliament, elected on April 30, convened days later to begin the process of naming a new Government but has failed repeatedly to nominate a Prime Minister, although it has finally chosen a Speaker of Parliament and President.

Meanwhile, in northern Iraq, Kurdish forces have begun a fight-back against the Islamic State after the jihadists made a rapid advance last week, seizing towns and fuelling a humanitarian crisis with the flight of hundreds of thousands of residents.

Assisted by US aerial intervention which has hit several Islamic State armored vehicles, mortars, and convoys, the Kurdish peshmerga recaptured the villages of Makhmour and al-Gwer, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the Iraqi Kurdistan capital Erbil.