Kurdistan hopes for long-term Iraq-US strategic partnership

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - As politicians in Baghdad discuss ending the military mission of the United States in Iraq, a delegation from the Kurdistan Region Presidency is in Washington holding talks they hope will help cement a long-term relationship.

“About the US relations with Iraq, and the Kurdistan Region included, we hope for a long-term strategic partnership with both sides that benefits both sides, that benefits stability, that benefits peace and security. And also to advance the economy and every existing sector,” Falah Mustafa, special assistant to the president of the Kurdistan Region for foreign policy affairs, told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda in Washington DC.

Mustafa is part of the visiting delegation from the presidency’s office, led by Chief of Staff Fawzi Hariri, and also including Niyaz Salih Barzani, head of foreign affairs and diplomacy. They have met with a number of US officials, senators, and representatives over the past week. 

On Friday, the delegation met with Amos Hochstein, senior advisor to US President Joe Biden for energy and investment, Uzra Zeya under secretary of state for civilian security, democracy, and human rights, Dan Shapiro, deputy assistant secretary of defense, and Victoria Taylor, deputy assistant secretary for Iraq and Iran in the Department of State’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

"The meetings focused on energy issues, the importance of the resumption of Kurdistan Region's oil export, the upcoming Kurdistan parliamentary elections, Erbil-Baghdad relations, the condition of [religious and ethnic] components and Internally Displaced Persons, freedom of expression, human rights, implementation of the Shingal agreement, reform process within Kurdistan Regional Government's ministry of Peshmerga, the latest developments regarding the tensions in the Middle East, and Gaza war and its repercussion,” the presidency said in a statement.

They also discussed “ways to enhance US relations with the Kurdistan Region within the framework of the strategic agreement between Iraq and the United States,” it added.

The Iraq-US Strategic Framework Agreement outlines cooperation in multiple areas including defense, politics, energy, and the economy. In the area of security, a joint US-Iraq military commission is currently discussing the future of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State [ISIS] in Iraq. Iraq’s Shiite leaders, angry over US airstrikes on Iraqi armed groups, want to see American troops withdraw from the country. The Kurdish leadership have said that the international presence is still necessary to combat the terror threat.

In a Monday meeting with US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander, the presidency delegation “highlighted the need for ongoing cooperation, in-line with US-Iraq security efforts, to ensure ISIS's lasting defeat and to enhance regional peace & stability,” the presidency said in a post on X at the time.

Mustafa noted that the situation in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region has changed compared to a decade ago when ISIS first emerged and the US-led coalition was formed and it is now time to think about the next steps. “Certainly both the Iraqi and the American side need to sit together to assess the situation and specify the form of their future relations,” he said, adding that the Kurdistan Region supports “the meetings and understandings between both sides.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani in late January presided over the first round of talks of the joint US-Iraq Higher Military Commission (HMC), the purpose of which is to evaluate the coalition’s future role in Iraq based on the level of the threat from ISIS, operational and environmental requirements, and the capabilities of Iraqi security forces.

Baghdad’s language has been clear that the commission’s ultimate aim is to bring an end to the presence of the coalition forces in the country, while Washington has described it as a “transition.” 

The HMC talks began amid outrage in Baghdad after the US carried out multiple deadly airstrikes on armed groups it blamed for a spate of attacks on American interests in Iraq and Syria. An Iran-backed Iraqi group has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks, saying they are in response to Washington’s support for Israel in its war on Gaza.

Attacks on the Kurdistan Region

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired at least 10 ballistic missiles at Erbil province on January 15, under the pretext of targeting Israeli Mossad bases and headquarters of anti-Iran groups. At least five of the missiles hit the residence of Peshraw Dizayee, a well-known Kurdish businessman, killing him, his 11-month-old daughter, and two others.

Iraqi National Security Advisor Araji visited Erbil a day after the attack. After inspecting the targeted location, he stated that claims about the presence of a Mossad base in Erbil are “baseless.”

Erbil has repeatedly denied Iranian claims of the presence of Israeli intelligence in the Kurdistan Region.

Sites in Erbil province housing American troops have also come under repeated drone and rocket attacks by Iraqi armed groups since October.

Mustafa said Erbil will discuss the attacks with Baghdad.

“The attacks on the Kurdistan Region, either those by drones by the outlaw groups, or that was committed by the IRGC on the Kurdistan Region, will be discussed with the federal government in Baghdad, because those attacks are a violation of the authority of the prime minister and the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces,” Mustafa said.

“Iraq is a sovereign country that needs to defend itself and protect its sovereignty. We are working closely with the federal government to put an end to the violations of the Iraqi borders and disrespect of Iraq’s sovereignty,” he added.

US retaliatory strikes in Iraq

After a drone strike in late January killed three American soldiers in Jordan, Washington retaliated on February 2 by hitting more than 85 targets of the IRGC-Quds Force and Iran-aligned groups in Iraq and Syria, killing at least 16 of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fighters and injuring another 36 in Iraq’s western Anbar province, near the Syrian border.

A US drone strike in eastern Baghdad’s Mashtal neighborhood in the late hours of Wednesday killed another three people, including Abu Baqer al-Saadi, a leading commander of the Kataib Hezbollah armed group.

Washington’s attacks drew the anger of Iraqi officials who condemned them as a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty. Yehia Rasool, the military spokesperson for Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, issued a warning on Thursday: “This trajectory compels the Iraqi government more than ever to terminate the mission of this coalition, which has become a factor for instability and threatens to entangle Iraq in the cycle of conflict.”

Mustafa said that Erbil is not a part of the existing conflict between Washington and Baghdad. “What is important for the Kurdistan Region is that we remain in contact with the federal government for any program, decision, or understanding between both sides,” he said.

Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections

No date has yet been set for Kurdistan Region’s delayed parliamentary elections. They were due to be held in October 2022, but were pushed to November of the following year due to disagreements among the political parties over the election law. After an Iraqi court ruling against the self-extension of the Kurdistan parliament as a result of the delayed elections, the poll was postponed to February 2024 and to be held under the supervision of the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), which has requested a new date be set.

A date cannot be announced until the conclusion of a case before the Federal Supreme Court regarding the minority quota seats in the Kurdish legislature. 

Mustafa said that Erbil is worried about the repeated postponements of the vote.

“We are also worried about the delay because it is really inexcusable,” he said.

“We, as the Kurdistan Region, are ready. The political parties in the Kurdistan Region are ready. But the federal court needs to decide the case, so that the Kurdistan Region Presidency and the KRG [Kurdistan Regional Government] along with the IHEC, start the necessary preparations for the elections,” he added.

Kurdistan Region’s authorities have come under mounting criticism both domestically and internationally, for failing to hold elections on time.

The Iraqi government late last year allocated nearly 70 billion dinars for the IHEC to supervise the poll, clearing one hurdle for the vote to take place.