Barzani’s visit to Washington tests US willingness to protect Iraqi Kurdistan
WASHINGTON –
Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Masrour Barzani visited Washington this week following an official invitation from the administration of US President Joe Biden.
According to observers, Barzani’s visit and his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as well as senior officials at the State Department marks a shift in the Biden administration’s policy toward the region and a desire by Washington to push for a more active US engagement with Erbil in view of strained relations with Baghdad.
The United States, observers told The Arab Weekly, is hoping to transform Kurdistan, an autonomous administrative region, into a major centre of gravity for American influence in Iraq, where the government is working to end the mission of US-led forces there.
The US-led coalition was set up in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group which had seized swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria. With the local Hashed militia, the coalition had contributed to the defeat of the jihadists in Iraq.
There are roughly 2,500 US troops deployed in Iraq and about 900 in Syria as part of the coalition.
Tensions between the US and the Iraqi government have deepened in recent months after Washington carried out strikes in response to a flurry of attacks on US-led troops since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began in October.
Washington and Baghdad opened talks on the future of the US-led troop presence late last month after repeated demands from Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shiaa al-Sudani for a timetable for their withdrawal.
As ties are growing sour, Washington has resorted to financial pressure on Baghdad, with the US Treasury imposing sanctions on many Iraqi banks and an airline run by an Iraqi businessman accused of being close to militias and providing services to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The insistence of Sudani’s government on the withdrawal of US-led forces from Iraq is expected to irrevocably affect Baghdad’s relationship with the US administration, according to observers, who believe the departure of these forces would represent a decline of American influence in the country and the creation of a larger margin for Iran’s manoeuvre.
Sudani has limited control over some Iran-backed factions, whose support he needed to win power a year ago and who now form a powerful bloc in his governing coalition.
This means the US could find in the autonomous Kurdistan region, which Washington helped establish, a suitable partner to maintain influence in Iraq.
The regional leadership openly opposes the withdrawal of US-led forces from Iraq, fearing further imbalance in the country would benefit Iran and its local allies.
In recent years, Kurdistan has been under intense pressure from the ruling Shia forces in Iraq, which has taken several forms: Financial pressure through the strictness of these forces in granting Erbil its fair share of the federal state budget, and security pressure through the targeting of Kurdish lands by pro-Iranian militias.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps have themselves engaged more than once in threatening Kurdistan’s security by directing ballistic missiles to targets within the Kurdish territory in Iraq. Erbil is also under judicial and legal pressure through the intervention of the Federal Court in regional election affairs and the law regulating them.
These pressures have begun to raise serious concerns about the stability of Kurdistan and its autonomy, which was significantly affected after the region witnessed years of stability and prosperity, in contrast to the remainder of Iraq, which has been searching for balance for more than two decades.
Washington’s invitation to Barzani signalled the beginning of American efforts to protect the Iraqi Kurdistan region from these pressures, observers told The Arab Weekly.
In a read-out of Barzani’s meeting with Blinken, State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said, “the Secretary and the Prime Minister underscored the importance of the US partnership with the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR) in the context of their mutual, enduring commitment to regional security and their shared values, including good governance and respect for human rights.”
“Secretary Blinken expressed support for constructive collaboration between the Iraqi government and the KRG, as well as greater unity within the IKR, to advance stability and economic prosperity for all of Iraq’s people,” Miller added.
“Furthermore,” the read-out concluded, “the Secretary emphasised that US support for a resilient IKR would continue to be a cornerstone of the dynamic, broad-based relationship that the United States enjoys with Iraq.”
Miller’s statement was the first public affirmation that representatives of the KRG will be involved in the US-Iraq Higher Military Commission. It is noteworthy that the KRG’s Minister of Peshmerga Affairs, Shoresh Ismail, is a member of the delegation led by Barzani and participated in the State Department meetings.
“The leaders also discussed the importance of Kurdish participation in the US-Iraq Higher Military Commission,” Miller’s read-out said, “which will enable the transition to an enduring bilateral security partnership between the United States and Iraq, including the Kurdistan region.”
On his part, Barzani indicated that the Iraqi Kurdistan Region faces many challenges and that his meetings with American officials “aim to discuss these challenges and developments in Iraq and the region.”
Barzani and his delegation had multiple meetings with senior officials at the State Department. They also met Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf; Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, Uzra Zeya; and Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources, Geoffrey Pyatt.
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