ERBIL, Kurdistan Region The White House’s top Middle East official said Monday that the US is keen to ensure the Iraqi government’s success and reiterated American support to ongoing Iraqi reforms in a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.
The White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk arrived in Baghdad on Monday to meet with senior Iraqi officials, and is expected to travel to Erbil later to meet with Kurdish officials.
McGurk “affirmed his country’s support to ensure the success of the Iraqi government and continue to provide advisory assistance to the Iraqi forces in their fight against ISIS [Islamic State]” during a meeting with Sudani, the Iraqi premier’s office said.
In a Sunday interview with The Wall Street Journal, Sudani defended the presence of American troops in Iraq amid renewed criticism from Iranian-backed leaders calling for America’s exit from Iraq following the third anniversary of the assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) top commander Qasem Soleimani and deputy Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a US strike in Baghdad.
The parties that back Sudani and control the Iraqi parliament are linked to pro-Iranian factions that are very hostile to the US.
“I don’t see this as an impossible matter, to see Iraq have a good relationship with Iran and the US,” Sudani said in the interview.
The premier’s office added that the meeting with McGurk discussed the strengthening of Iraq-US bilateral relations, describing the links between the two countries as “friendly and brotherly.”
An upcoming visit by Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein was also touched upon during the meeting, which was also attended by US Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski.
American troops toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime in 20013, remaining in the country until 2011. Three years later, ISIS attacked Iraq and Syria and seized swathes of territory, leading Baghdad to invite US troops back to the country to help fight the terror group.
There are currently around 2,000 American troops in the country, leading a global coalition against ISIS and advising Iraqi forces.
