US senators meet with Iraqi, Kurdistan leaders

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two United States senators met separately with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Saturday.

“President Nechirvan Barzani welcomed Mr. Angus King, an Independent Senator from Maine, along with Mr. James Lankford, a Republican Senator from Oklahoma, and their accompanying delegation,” a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency said. 

Counterterrorism cooperation and Erbil-Baghdad relations were discussed, as well as the situation in Syria and broader regional developments.

“The potential for US job creation and investment opportunities in both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region” was also discussed, the statement added. 

The visit came on the heels of two major energy contracts signed this week between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and US-based HKN Energy and WesternZagros, valued at a combined $110 billion in their lifetimes. They were signed in the presence of Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani who was on a trip to Washington where he met with several American officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Baghdad has rejected the energy contracts as illegal and the Iraqi oil ministry said that all partnerships must go through the federal government. PM Barzani called on the Iraqi government to reconsider its opposition, arguing the agreements will benefit all of Iraq.

In his meeting with the American senators in Baghdad, Iraqi PM Sudani “emphasized the importance of bilateral relations with the United States and Iraq’s aspiration to further develop and strengthen them across various fields - particularly in the sectors of economy, energy, investment, and culture - within the Iraq-US Strategic Framework Agreement,” said a statement from his office, referring to the broad agreement that guides US-Iraq relations.

Sudani said that the government has made major strides in the oil and gas sector, paving the way for increased cooperation and investment from US companies.