WASHINGTON: The security and defense relationship between the US and Iraq will be an important part of talks when Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani visits Washington next week but is not the primary focus of the visit, a senior State Department official said on Thursday.
The official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said the emphasis of Sudani’s visit would be economic ties, even as Washington and Baghdad are in talks over ending the US-led military coalition in the country.
US forces and Shiite Muslim armed groups have engaged in tit-for-tat attacks in recent months amid regional conflict linked to Israel’s war in Gaza, leading to Sudani in January announcing his intention to end the US military presence.
The senior State Department official said the defense and security relationship will be part of the discussions during Sudani’s visit, when he will meet both with President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin as well as Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“(It is) likely to be a very important part of our – of the discussion,” the official said. “It is not the primary focus of the visit ... but it is almost certainly going to come up.”
The visit’s focus will instead be the economy and issues including education, environment and US support for development, the official said, without providing details.
“We’re going to have a full range of discussions about our relationship and where it’s going,” the official said.
The US invaded Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein and withdrew in 2011, only for troops to return in 2014 to help fight Islamic State (IS) after the extremist Sunni Muslim militant group overran large parts of the country.
Washington and Baghdad began talks in January to reassess the US-led military coalition presence there.
The official said those talks were likely to lead to a second joint security cooperation dialogue later this year.
Defense relationship part of US-Iraq talks in Washington next week, US official says
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Defense relationship part of US-Iraq talks in Washington next week, US official says
- Washington and Baghdad began talks in January to reassess the US-led military coalition presence there
Russian missiles attack port infrastructure near Ukraine’s Odesa, kill seven
- At least 15 people were also injured in the Russian missile strike, said Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba
A Russian missile attack late on Friday on port infrastructure around Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa killed seven people and injured 15, Ukrainian officials said.
“In the late evening, Russia attacked port infrastructure in Odesa region with ballistic missiles,” Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba wrote on Telegram.
Kuleba and Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said that, according to preliminary reports, seven people were killed and 15 injured. A source familiar with the matter said the attack was on Pivdennyi — one of three ports in the area.
Odesa, a focal point of Ukrainian grain and other exports, has been a frequent target of Russian attacks since Russia invaded its smaller neighbor in February 2022.
The intensity of the attacks has increased in recent days. One strike damaged a bridge southwest of Odesa and cut a major route between the city and the Danube River port of Reni and complicated border crossings to Moldova and Romania.
