Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani discussed, on Friday, with a delegation from the US Congress, relations between the two countries.
This came during Al-Sudani’s reception of the congressional delegation headed by Senator Mark Takano, in the presence of the US Ambassador to Iraq, Elena Romansky.
This is the first congressional delegation to visit the country since Al-Sudani formed his government and won the confidence of the House of Representatives (Parliament) on October 27, according to the official Iraqi News Agency.
Al-Sudani’s media office said, in a statement published by the agency, that “during the meeting, they reviewed the bilateral relations between Iraq and the United States.”
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The meeting also reviewed “the course of the war on terrorism, and the performance of the Iraqi forces in pursuing the terrorist remnants of ISIS,” according to the statement.
The meeting also discussed “ways to strengthen relations and partnership in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement in various fields, foremost of which is cooperation in facing climate change and efforts to confront water scarcity,” according to the same source.
The statement indicated that Senator Takano (Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee in Congress) congratulated Al-Sudani on the occasion of assuming his duties and gaining confidence in his government.
The statement quoted Al-Sudani stressing “the importance of relations between his country and the United States.”
He pointed out that this is “the first delegation representing the US Congress to visit Iraq after the formation of the government.”
Al-Sudani formed his government commissioned by the “coordinating framework” that includes Shiite forces close to Iran, which managed, after several maneuvers, to push the head of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, to despair of forming a “national majority government” to decide to withdraw from Parliament last June.