2024-04-18 07:01:22
The President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Iraq strengthened their strategic partnership and agreed on the need to work together to promote stability in the Middle East.
Joe Biden welcomed Mohamed Shia al-Sudani to the Oval Office on Monday, in a meeting scheduled before Iran’s attack on Israel.
The meeting should focus on relations between the US and Iraq, with emphasis on security and US troops on Iraqi soil, but also on energy, economic and investment issues.
But the Iranian attack on Israel raised the profile of the relationship between the two countries, in part because some drones and missiles flew over Iraqi airspace and others were launched from Iraq by Iranian-backed Shiite groups.
“The US-Iraq partnership is fundamental,” Biden told Al-Sudani, later reaffirming Washington’s support for Baghdad in strengthening relations with the international community and regional states, to guarantee the country’s security, growth and stability. .
The North American leader also promised to support greater economic integration of Iraq in the Middle East region.
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The Iraqi leader noted that the meeting was taking place at a “delicate moment” and highlighted the need to strengthen cooperation.
The two leaders also stressed the need for Iraqi security forces to ensure that the fundamentalist group Islamic State can never reconstitute itself in Iraq.
Biden reiterated that “a strong Iraq, with self-defense capabilities, is fundamental to regional stability” and committed to “strengthening Iraq’s capabilities.”
2024-04-18 07:01:22