Iraqi oil, finance, security delegation to visit Erbil on Thursday

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – An Iraqi government delegation is set to arrive in Erbil on Thursday to discuss oil, budget and disputed territory issues with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials, in a continued effort to normalize Erbil-Baghdad relations.

The delegation from Baghdad will be led by Iraqi finance and oil ministers, according to Aekhlas Dlimey, a member of finance committee in Iraqi parliament. It will also include Iraqi National Security Advisor Falah al-Fayadh.

“Kurdistan Regional Government is keen on solving the issues between the Kurdistan Region and Iraqi federal government,” Dlimey, told Rudaw on Wednesday.

“The last KRG delegation to Baghdad was very successful, as both sides agreed to resolve all issues between Erbil and Baghdad before 2020,” she added.

KRG prime minister Masrour Barzani, sworn in by the Kurdistan Region parliament on July 10, has signaled that his administration wants to “develop a constructive and stable partnership” with Baghdad and leave behind past disputes.

In his first visit to Baghdad as KRG prime minister on July 16, Barzani met with senior Iraqi officials, including Iraqi prime minister Adil Abdul Mahdi, President of Iraq Barham Salih and Iraqi parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi.

The main aim of the visit was to resolve lingering Erbil-Baghdad contentions, including oil, budget and disputed territories.

During the last KRG cabinet meeting on July 22, 2019, the KRG established a committee to initiate dialogue with Baghdad.

Though it is still unknown whether the delegation will discuss the return of the Peshmerga forces to the disputed areas, the presence of al-Fayadh may provoke its discussion.

“It is unclear whether the delegation will discuss the return of Peshmerga forces into the disputed areas or not, but since the Iraqi National Security Advisor is part of the delegation, then the topic might be on the table,” Dlimey told Rudaw.

Relations between Erbil and Baghdad hit their lowest ebb in the immediate aftermath of the Kurdistan independence referendum in September 2017.

Tensions had already been running high in a spat over the Region’s independent oil sales, which led Baghdad to scrap Erbil’s share of the federal budget.

Angered by a referendum for Kurdish independence in September 2017, Baghdad imposed an embargo on the Region’s international airports. Iraqi forces and Iran-backed paramilitias seized control of territories disputed by the federal government and the Kurdistan Region, including oil-rich Kirkuk.

Though relations have thawed since Adil Abdul-Mahdi became Iraqi prime minister, tensions surrounding independent oil sales prevail.

A January 2019 bill requires the KRG to export 250,000 barrels of oil per day through Iraq’s state oil-marketing company SOMO and hand over all revenues to the central treasury. However, the KRG has so far failed to keep its end of the deal.

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a telephone call to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Tuesday, with Pompeo encouraging improved Erbil-Baghdad relations.