Iraqi PM urges Trump to 'work towards ending' Mideast wars
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani expressed hopes during a phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump that he would keep his "promises to work towards ending wars" in the Middle East. Amid Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon, Sudani who was named premier by a majority bloc of Iran-backed political factions has been in a delicate balancing act to ensure his country is not drawn into the fighting.
In the phone call, the Iraqi premier pointed to Trump's "campaign statements and promises to work towards ending wars in the region", a statement from Sudani's office said late Friday. "The two sides agreed to coordinate efforts in achieving this goal," it added.
About 2,500 American troops are deployed in Iraq as part of a US-led coalition that was formed to help battle the Islamic State group. Bases hosting the American troops have been the target of dozens of rocket and drone attacks launched by Iran-backed groups in Iraq, which have also claimed attacks against Israel.
Baghdad has for years called on Washington to provide a clear timeline for the withdrawal of their remaining coalition troops. The US and Iraq announced in late September that the international coalition would end its decade-long military mission in federal Iraq within a year, and by September 2026 in the autonomous Kurdistan region.
But the joint statement and US officials did not say whether any American troops would remain in Iraq. Under Trump's first term in office, relations deteriorated between the two countries after a US drone strike in January 2020 killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani -- the chief of the Quds Force and the architect of the Islamic republic's military operations abroad.
Also killed in that strike was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq's former paramilitary Hashed al-Shaabi that have been integrated into the armed forces. As part of their investigations into Muhandis's assassination, the Iraqi judiciary issued a warrant for Trump's arrest in January 2021.
