Biden nominates new US ambassador to Iraq

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - United States President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced his intent to nominate an American diplomat to be the new ambassador to Iraq.

Alina L. Romanowski was nominated by the president for “Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Iraq,” a statement from The White House read.

Romanowski is a career member of the Senior Executive Service with over 40 years of service across various US government agencies under her belt. She is an expert in Middle East affairs, and currently serves as the US ambassador to the State of Kuwait.

Her nomination has to be confirmed by the Senate, where ambassadorial picks go ahead to move to their posts.

In her statement to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in October 2019, ahead of her nomination to the post of US ambassador to Kuwait, Romanowski called the US military and diplomatic partnership with Kuwait essential to increasing pressure on Iran and containing its malign activities throughout the region. “Through its proxies, Iran has sown violence against US allies interests across the Middle East and beyond,” she said.

“Through its support of the Houthis in Yemen, Bashar al Assad’s regime in Syria, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran is working to destabilize the entire region. We must work together with key partners such as Kuwait to counter this threat,” Romanowski said in reference to Iran’s attack against oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia in September 2019.

The nominee for the new post speaks French and has studied Arabic and Hebrew, having studied at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Romanowski is set to replace current US ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tuller who was confirmed by the Senate to the post in May 2019, and presented his credentials to the Iraqi government in June 2019.

Washington, Iraq, and the Kurdistan Region have maintained a strong relationship over the years. The US has been a key ally in the fight against Islamic State (ISIS) since 2014, providing the Region’s Kurdish forces with several rounds of military aid over the years.