ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - With world leaders converging at UN Headquarters for an annual high-level summit, Iraq’s premier implored the chief US diplomat on Monday to heed warnings about the risks of conflict in the Middle East and the lack of solutions from the international community.
“The Prime Minister stressed that both the world and the region are facing a difficult time, reiterating Iraq’s previous warnings about the potential for a full-scale war due to the lack of solutions from the international community and its institutions,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s office said in a statement.
Sudani hosted US Secretary of Antony Blinken in a meeting on the fringes of the 79th United Nations General Assembly.
The Iraqi PM’s statement “called on the United Nations to fulfill its responsibilities regarding the crimes being committed against civilians in Gaza and Lebanon, especially women and children.”
International sanctions, invasions, civil strife, and the rise and fall of the Islamic State (ISIS) have kept Baghdad in perpetual cycles of conflict for more than three decades.
“The Prime Minister emphasized the need for concerted efforts to stop the ongoing war and aggression in Gaza and Lebanon,” the prime ministry added, “warning that the conflict could escalate and widen further, threatening regional and international security.”
Iraq is currently in talks with Washington about the future of US forces in the country, as Sudani’s cabinet tries to balance its national interests with regional and international relationships.
“The Secretary underscored the United States' commitment to ongoing efforts to support a stable, secure, and sovereign Iraq that benefits the people of Iraq and the broader region,” read a US statement on the Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting from spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Blinken told Rudaw's Diyar Kurda that the meeting with Sudani went "very good."
The gathering of world leaders is happening as conflicts rage in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan, and support is mounting at the UN for a Palestinian resolution demanding Israel end its occupation.
Blinken and Sudani “discussed urgent efforts to avoid further escalation of the conflict in the region,” according to the US statement.
As part of their strategic partnership, Blinken said both sides emphasized the importance “to expand cooperation on economic development and continue to build ties between our two peoples.”
To that end, Blinken expressed support for Sudani’s agenda to modernize the Iraqi economy, combat corruption, and reform the financial sector. US officials have encouraged Iraq to leverage its abundance of energy to become energy independent and a net exporter of energy by the end of the decade.
“The Secretary emphasized the need to reopen the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline to encourage continued foreign investment in the Iraqi economy and commended Iraq's commitment to achieve energy independence by 2030,” the US statement added.
Oil producers in the Kurdistan Region on Sunday called on Baghdad to immediately resume oil exports via ITP, over 18 months since exports were halted due to an arbitration row.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the pipeline have been halted since March 2023 after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying the latter had breached a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
The United States has said it is supporting “all sides” to achieve a solution.
Blinken and Sudani also discussed the future of the US-led international anti-ISIS coalition in the country and bilateral relations.
