Joe Biden hosts Iraqi leader after Iran’s attack on Israel throws Middle East into greater uncertainty
- Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and US President Joe Biden discuss range of issues
- Al-Sudani’s scheduled visit came as tensions soared between Iran and Israel after weekend strikes
US President Joe Biden hosted Iraq’s leader at the White House on Monday as his administration aims to prevent escalation in Middle East hostilities following Iran’s weekend attack on Israel.
But Saturday’s drone and missile launches, including some that overflew Iraqi airspace, have underscored the delicate relationship between Washington and Baghdad, not least because of Iranian proxy groups that operate in Iraq.
“Our partnership is pivotal for our nations, the Middle East and the world,” Biden told al-Sudani, as the Iraqi leader noted the discussion comes at a “sensitive time”.
Israel vows to press on in Gaza after Iran’s missile and drone attack
Meeting Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Tamim before Biden’s session with al-Sudani, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was urging all parties to avoid escalation.
“In the 36 hours since, we have been coordinating a diplomatic response to seek to prevent escalation,” he said. “Strength and wisdom need to be different sides of the same coin.”
Tamim said the Iraqi government was equally concerned.
Complicating matters, Iranian proxies have initiated attacks against US interests throughout the region from inside Iraq. Those continuing strikes have made US-Iraq discussions about regional stability and future US troop deployments all the more critical.
Monday’s talks were also focusing on economic, trade and energy issues that have become a major priority for Iraq’s government. Biden praised al-Sudani for strengthening Iraq’s economy.
The Iraqi leader also pressed Biden on working to bring a swift end to the Israel-Gaza war, now in its seventh month, saying the economic dialogue could not ignore the humanitarian needs in the region. Biden, for his part, said the US was “committed to a ceasefire that will bring the hostages home and prevent the conflict from spreading”.
The two countries have a delicate relationship due in part to Iran’s considerable sway in Iraq, where a coalition of Iran-backed groups brought al-Sudani to power in October 2022.
Iran’s weekend attacks on Israel through Iraqi airspace have further underscored US concerns, although al-Sudani had already left Baghdad and was en route to Washington when the drones and missiles were launched.
That was followed by a US strike that killed a leader in the Kataib Hezbollah militia whom Washington accused of planning and taking part in attacks on US troops.
Al-Sudani has attempted to maintain a balancing act between Iran and America despite being seen as close to Tehran and despite several incidents that have put his government in an embarrassing position in relation to Washington.
Early in his term, a US citizen, Stephen Edward Troell, was shot and killed by armed men who accosted him as he pulled up to the street where he lived in Baghdad’s central Karrada district with his family.
An Iraqi criminal court convicted five men last August and sentenced them to life in prison in the case, which officials described as a kidnapping gone wrong.
A few months later, Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian doctoral student at Princeton, was kidnapped while doing research in Iraq. She is believed to be held by Kataib Hezbollah. The senior US official said Tsurkov’s case would also be raised during al-Sudani’s visit.
Al-Sudani started his term with promises to focus on economic development and fight corruption, but his government has faced economic difficulties, including a discrepancy in the official and market exchange rates between the Iraqi dinar and the US dollar.
The currency issues resulted in part from a US tightening of the dollar supply to Iraq, as part of a crackdown on money laundering and smuggling of funds to Iran. The US has disallowed more than 20 Iraqi banks from dealing in dollars as part of the campaign.
The al-Sudani government recently renewed Iraq’s contract to buy natural gas from Iran for another five years, which could lead to American displeasure.
The Iraqi prime minister will return to Iraq and meet the Turkish president following his trip to Washington, which could finally lead to a solution to a long-running dispute over exports of oil from Kurdish areas of Iraq to Turkey. Washington has sought to get the flow of oil to resume