The United States and Iraq earlier on Thursday announced the start of bilateral talks to discuss the future of the global coalition's anti-Islamic State (ISIS) mission in Iraq. Both sides will assess the ISIS threat and the capability of the Iraqi security forces to counter it, in the course of working group meetings.
"It is good that these things are discussed and negotiated but it is not one that implicates our mission in Iraq," Dujarric told Rudaw's Sinan Tuncdemir during a presser on Friday.
In August, Washington and Baghdad held the inaugural US-Iraq Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue (JSCD) in the American capital to discuss ongoing security cooperation and other defense-related issues.
“The United States and the Government of Iraq will start working group meetings of the U.S.-Iraq Higher Military Commission (HMC) in the coming days, initiating a process the two sides committed to during the U.S.-Iraq Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue (JSCD) in Washington, D.C., on August 7-8, 2023. The commencement of the HMC process reflects the deep U.S. commitment to regional stability and Iraqi sovereignty,” said the Pentagon in a statement on Thursday.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani welcomed the move.
“We welcome the agreement reached between the Iraqi Federal Government and the US Government to start the work of the US-Iraq Higher Military Commission (HMC), the progress made in the discussions on the bilateral relationship, and the future of the collaborative efforts in the political, economic, cultural, security, and military spheres,” read a statement from President Barzani.
Regarding Astana talks, Dujarric told Rudaw that Najat Rochdi, the Deputy Special Envoy for Syria "attended the two-day round in the Kazakh capital. Ms. Rochdi held constructive meetings with representatives of the Governments of Syria, Russia, Turkiye, Lebanon and Jordan. During the meetings, she underscored the need to immediately de-escalate violence both within and within the broader region specifically in Syria."
He added that "Ms. Rochdi also conveyed that the common priorities include civilian protection, resumption of the Constitutional Committee, promoting confidence-building measures, and supporting Syrian people everywhere, and implementing Security Council resolution 2254."
