During his brief tenures as prime minister in 1940 and 1941, he attempted to negotiate settlements with the Axis powers during World War II to counter British influence in Iraq.

[2] In 1924, Rashid Ali al-Gailani began his career in politics in the first government led by Prime Minister Yasin al-Hashimi.

[4] During the Hashimi government, Gailani served as Minister of Interior with the additional benefit of the lucrative trusteeship of the Qadiri Awqaf.

[5] On 31 March 1940, when Gailani was again appointed prime minister, World War II had started and Iraq had just experienced the premature death of King Ghazi.

He also rejected calls for Iraq to break its ties with Fascist Italy and sent his Justice Minister, Naji Shawkat, to Ankara to meet with Germany's ambassador to Turkey, Franz von Papen, to win German support for his government.

German Foreign Ministry archives record that Shawkat met von Papen on July 5, 1940, and he carried a letter of introduction from Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, expressing a desire for a treaty of friendship and collaboration.

[6] Baghdad was the early base for Nazi Middle East intelligence operations during World War II.

Together with the members of the Golden Square, Gaylani made plans to assassinate Regent Abdul-Illah and seize power.

By the end of April, Iraqi troops held strong positions on the escarpment above the base, and a siege began.

Iraq had been a major supplier of petroleum to the Allied war effort and represented an important landbridge between British forces in Egypt and India.

To secure Iraq, Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered General Archibald Wavell to protect the air base at Habbaniya.