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US President Joe Biden and Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani meeting in the Oval Office on April 15, 2024. Photo: Diyar Kurda/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US President Joe Biden on Monday received Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani in the Oval Office, thanking him for “strengthening” Iraq’s economy and energy independence.
Sudani arrived in Washington on Saturday, marking his first visit to the US as the prime minister of Iraq. He was received by Biden in the Oval Office.
During a meeting attended by the media, the US President thanked Sudani for his "focus on strengthening Iraq's economy and energy independence,” adding that “That's a goal we share today with you and we are going to discuss that later today."
A meeting behind closed doors between the two leaders will take place later in the evening.
The United States last month renewed a waiver exempting Iraq from abiding by Washington’s sanctions on Iran, allowing Baghdad to buy electricity from Tehran. Baghdad has accelerated its efforts to reduce its energy dependence on Iran to zero, planning to buy natural gas from the Kurdistan Region. The waiver helps Iraq bypass existing US sanctions on Iranian exports.
#BREAKING: Iraqi PM Sudani tells President Biden in Washington that his visit to the US is "significant" for bilateral relations.
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) April 15, 2024
📽️: Diyar Kurda/Rudaw pic.twitter.com/t4Al18yCNe
Earlier on Monday, Sudani met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. They “explored economic aspects and investment opportunities for American companies, particularly in the energy sector, and the prospects for expanding partnerships with the Iraqi private sector in areas crucial to the Iraqi market and various cooperation areas that benefit both countries,” according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
Sudani told Biden that their meeting is “significant” for US-Iraq bilateral relations.
“This visit is important in the relationship between the two countries, which is witnessing an important turning point,” he said.
Security ties
Biden also told Sudani that Washington is "committed to the security of our personnel and partners in the region, including Iraq,” describing the US-Iraq partnership as “critical,” and stressing that “We've seen [this] over the last decade as our troops have served side by side to help defeat ISIS, and we have seen this in our Strategic Framework Agreement as well."
The Strategic Framework Agreement came into effect in 2009 and seeks to normalize Baghdad-Washington relations through long-term bilateral economic, diplomatic, cultural, and security cooperation.
“We aim to discuss the sustainable foundations for a comprehensive and long-term relationship with the United States, ensuring a smooth and systematic transition from a military and security-based relationship to a comprehensive economic, political, environmental, educational, and security partnership according to the Strategic Framework Agreement,” Sudani told Biden in the Oval Office.
“We have achieved a remarkable victory [against ISIS] thanks to the sacrifices of the Iraqi people and the unity of all its components and the support of the international community and the global coalition,” he added.
ISIS rose to power in 2014, seizing vast swathes of Syrian and Iraqi land in a brazen offensive and declaring a so-called “caliphate.”
While the group was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019, it still continues to pose serious security risks through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, especially across expanses of the Syrian desert as well as several Iraqi provinces where there are security vacuums.
US President Joe Biden meets Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani in the Oval Office
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) April 15, 2024
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US withdrawal
The US and Iraq have begun discussions about winding down the presence of the US-led global coalition against ISIS mission in Iraq. Baghdad is seeking to expel coalition forces from the country after the US carried out several airstrikes against Iraqi armed groups in retaliation for scores of attacks on its forces based in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan.
Around 2,500 American troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria are leading an international coalition that has assisted Kurdish, Iraqi, and Syrian forces in the fight against ISIS. These troops have come under attack dozens of times after Israel began its war in Gaza last October.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a group of Iraqi militias affiliated with Iran, claimed responsibility for the majority of the attacks that were suspended in Iraq after the US carried out several deadly retaliatory airstrikes. On Friday they renewed their threats against American interests in the region, claiming that the US has increased the number of its troops in Iraq.
Sudani told Biden on Monday that Baghdad has laid out the transformation of Iraq-US relations "via the joint military council.”
“We aim to move from a relationship of a security and military nature, in a smooth, systematic and deliberate manner, to a relationship based on the foundations of the economy, cultural and political fields in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement,” he said.
The United States has not received a formal request from Baghdad to withdraw from the country, but is seeking to move away from its role as leader of the global coalition against ISIS, transitioning towards a long-term security relationship with Iraq, the Pentagon’s spokesperson told Rudaw in an interview on Wednesday.
“The United States military is there, of course, at the invitation of the government of Iraq, in a non-combat role to train, advise Iraqi security forces as it relates to the defeat-ISIS mission. But again, what the Higher Military Commission will help us do is look at how we're going to transition from that mission to an enduring bilateral security cooperation and relationship,” said Major General Pat Ryder.
Updated at 9:25 pm
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