The Iraqi Prime Minister heads to the United States on an official visit

Iraq – Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani left the capital, Baghdad, yesterday, Saturday, heading to the United States on an official visit, at the invitation of US President Joe Biden.

The Iraqi Prime Minister’s media office said in a statement, “The Prime Minister left Baghdad heading to the United States, at the head of a government and parliamentary delegation and representatives of the private sector, at the beginning of an official visit at the invitation of US President Joe Biden,” according to what the Iraqi News Agency reported ( conscious).

Before leaving Baghdad, Al-Sudani made a press statement in which he said, “The visit will witness the holding of the first meeting of the Joint Supreme Coordination Committee, with the aim of continuing to activate the strategic framework agreement, in the axes of energy, banking and financial cooperation, transportation, combating corruption, recovering Iraqi funds, and the business sector.” In addition to education and culture,” according to the statement.

The statement explained, “The goal of the visit is to move relations with the United States to a new stage that includes activating the provisions of the Strategic Framework Agreement, which is in line with our government’s program that focuses on economic and financial reforms and other important fields, as well as productive partnerships with various countries of the world.”

There are friendly and cooperative relations between Iraq and the United States based on the principles of the “Strategic Framework” agreement concluded in 2008 between the governments of then Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and then US President George W. Bush.

Al-Sudani pointed out that his visit to Washington “comes at a delicate and sensitive circumstance at the level of relations with the United States, as well as at the level of the conditions of the region and the crimes taking place in the Palestinian territories against innocent people, as well as fears of the expansion of the scope of the conflict.”

He stressed that his meeting with Biden will discuss “discussing the conditions of the region and the escalation it is witnessing, and the joint role (of the two countries) in working to calm the situation and prevent the conflict from expanding in a way that affects overall stability in the world.”

The meeting also reviews “the work of the Supreme Military Committee between Iraq and the international coalition, which aims to reach a timetable for ending the coalition’s mission and moving to bilateral relations with the countries participating in the coalition,” according to the statement.

Al-Sudani stressed, “The visit carries the desire to build a sustainable strategic partnership, based on mutual respect, and to preserve Iraq’s security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”

The visit includes “meetings with the US Secretaries of State, Defense and Treasury, as well as the National Security Advisor, the US Chamber of Commerce and senior officials in oil and industrial companies.”

The statement stated that a government and parliamentary delegation is accompanying the Prime Minister on his official visit to Washington, which includes a number of ministers, members of the House of Representatives, and advisors, in addition to representatives of the private sector, including businessmen and industrialists in various sectors.

The visit will witness expanded discussions with American officials regarding bilateral relations between the two countries, and a discussion of a group of economic, financial, commercial and security files, as well as education and culture files, and the signing of a number of investment contracts with major American companies, according to the statement.

The statement did not specify the details of the duration of the visit, but the White House announced in a statement late last March that President Biden would receive Al-Sudani on April 15, without clarifying the duration of the visit.

The White House statement stated that Biden and Al-Sudani will discuss bilateral and regional issues, in addition to the current status of the mission of the international coalition against ISIS led by the United States.

In December 2023, Al-Sudani confirmed that his country was moving towards ending the presence of the international coalition in the country, days after American strikes that Baghdad considered “hostile and a violation of sovereignty” on Iraqi sites.

The United States has about 2,500 soldiers in Iraq.

Via video communication technology, on June 11, 2020, the first round of discussions was held within the framework of the strategic dialogue between the two countries in an atmosphere of American-Iranian tensions, after the assassination of the Iranian “Quds Force” commander, Qassem Soleimani, in an American raid near Baghdad airport, and the increase in group attacks. Armed Shiites allied with Iran attack American facilities and forces in Iraq.

The international coalition against ISIS was established in September 2014 to fight the organization in Iraq and Syria, and includes 85 countries and partner organizations.

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