Iraq’s prime minister says the relationship with the United States is shifting from militarism to economics and vows to disarm the faction.
US President Donald Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi met at the White House in Washington, DC, and the two leaders pledged to deepen economic ties and increase Iraq’s oil production.
Tuesday’s meeting came after Trump publicly opposed former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s bid to become prime minister earlier this year, backing al-Zaidi, a businessman with no prior political experience.
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Al-Maliki, a divisive figure believed to have close ties to Iran, subsequently dropped out of the race in April.
The Iraqi government had previously expected several oil and gas deals to be signed during al-Zaidi’s visit to the United States, and President Trump had also vowed that a number of deals would be signed during their Oval Office meeting.
He called Al Zaidi “a great champion, a new champion.”
“Iraq has tremendous potential for oil and other reasons, but because of oil, we’re going to do a lot of business,” Trump said.
“It’s going to create a lot of jobs for both countries and extract a lot of oil. There’s going to be a lot of oil,” he said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Al Zaidi said the visit was “unlike other visits” and called it the beginning of an “economic partnership”.
He said the relationship between the United States and Iraq is moving from a militaristic one to an economic one.
Both Trump and Trump have said that fewer than 2,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, but that they will completely withdraw from the country by September 30. It was the same day that al-Zaidi pledged that insurgents operating across Iraq would disarm.
Iraq has long battled the competing influence of Iran and the United States in its domestic politics, with the continued presence of U.S. troops deployed amidst the conflict with ISIL (ISIS) and tensions over the leadership of Iranian-aligned armed groups.
Addressing parliament for the first time as prime minister, al-Zaidi vowed to disarm the country’s various militias, which have wielded power since the 2003 US-led war with Iraq.
He did not say how he would achieve his ambitious goals. Shortly before his departure, the Iraqi Islamic Resistance Movement, an umbrella organization for Iranian-backed militant groups in the region that includes Iraq, said it rejected any consequences of al-Zaidi’s visit.
Iraq is also one of several fronts in the US-Israel war with Iran that began on February 28, with conflict looming and a recent escalation of the conflict evident during President Al Zaidi’s visit.
Iraq’s economy has also been particularly hard hit by Iran’s de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 90 percent of its 3.4 million barrels per day (bpd) of fossil fuel exports pass.
Recent fighting has cast doubt on the future of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which in June led to a temporary end to the fighting, the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and the lifting of the US naval blockade against Iran.
Al Zaidi also told reporters at the White House that Iraq needs its “fair share” from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Iraq is seeking increased oil production quotas, and Al Zaidi said the need is a direct result of the destruction caused by the war against ISIL, which Iraq officially declared victory in 2017.
“The damage caused to Iraq exceeded $400 billion, and to this day, some Iraqis still have their homes destroyed and live in camps,” he said. “I have a plan to bring them home. That’s why I want Iraq to be given its fair share in OPEC.”
