Russia's presence in Iraq threatens to widen the crisis with the United States after a slight breakt

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[size=52]Russia's presence in Iraq threatens to widen the crisis with the United States after a slight breakthrough[/size]

[size=45]News of a new mediation regarding the Ukraine crisis, with French support[/size]
[size=45]Baghdad / Tamim Al-Hussein[/size]
[size=45]Iraq is trying to relieve pressure on monetary policy and obtain energy by diversifying its international relations and launching mediations between Western and regional countries.[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, however, there are warnings that the coordinating framework that leads the government, according to the description of those familiar with it, will risk its foreign policy until it angers Washington.[/size]
[size=45]Yesterday evening, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is supposed to have arrived in Baghdad for the first time since the formation of the government of Muhammad al-Sudani.[/size]
[size=45]This visit comes in the midst of the rush of Iraqi contacts with Arab and Western countries, and Turkish and Jordanian mediation to improve Baghdad's relationship with Washington.[/size]
[size=45]Informed political sources said in an interview with (Al-Mada) that «Lavrov's visit to Baghdad may be part of the French plan that was drawn up in Baghdad conferences (1) and (2) on the Eastern European crisis."[/size]
[size=45]The sources indicate that France, which sponsored the regional cooperation conference in which Iraq, regional countries and Iran participated, "wants Baghdad to mediate between Iran and Russia on the one hand and the United States regarding the war in Ukraine."[/size]
[size=45]In the war raging in eastern Europe about a year ago, Tehran aligned itself with Moscow, whose interests converge with the Islamic Republic in the Syrian crisis that has been going on for more than 10 years. Recently, Iran began sending drones to Russia.[/size]
[size=45]According to the sources, “Iraq will benefit from these mediations, which before it was between Saudi Arabia and Iran, expanding its international role, easing pressure on the dollar crisis, obtaining gas from Iran to operate power plants, and continuing the coordination framework in managing the government, which is standing on a hot plate.”[/size]
[size=45]In this regard, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Al-Sahaf said that the Russian Foreign Minister's visit "comes to discuss the most important developments at the regional level" and "to enhance the security and stability of the region and to discuss files that need convergence in visions and positions at the regional and international levels."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sahhaf announced, according to the official agency, yesterday, that a Russian government delegation headed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will arrive in Baghdad on Sunday evening (yesterday) on an official visit.[/size]
[size=45]This is the third visit by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Baghdad during the last ten years, as he visited Iraq during the era of the previous governments of Nuri al-Maliki and Adel Abdul-Mahdi.[/size]
[size=45]The Foreign Ministry spokesman added, "The visit comes in the context of affirming Iraq's openness to all its partners and friends, and the importance of strategic relations with the Russian side in light of enhancing investment and economic attraction, especially with regard to energy files."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sahhaf stated that "the relationship with the Russian side is basic and strategic with multiple interests," pointing out that "the delegation will be of a high-level diplomatic, economic, and investment level and includes multiple oil and gas companies in addition to companies in various sectors," explaining that "the delegation includes media professionals from more than 25 parties." A Russian journalist who will be present at the meetings.[/size]
[size=45]This visit comes a day after the government announced that Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani had received an invitation to visit the United Arab Emirates, and before that the visit of Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan to Baghdad, which is believed to be part of the resumption of dialogue with Iran.[/size]
[size=45]And Al-Sudani had previously announced, during his visit to Germany last month, that his government was continuing its efforts to “mediate between Saudi Arabia and Iran,” adding to German media: “We are finding a response from Iran and Saudi Arabia, and we are continuing these attempts, leading to the resumption of meetings in Baghdad soon.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sudani continued during the interview, "Bringing points of view between Iran and the countries of the region, including Saudi Arabia, is an approach that the Iraqi government has followed and continues to follow, and it will contribute to easing tensions in the region, which will reflect on the security of Iraq and the region."[/size]
[size=45]The prime minister had visited France recently, and the coordination framework, which was enthusiastic about the visit, promoted what he described as the largest Iraqi-European partnership during the last half century, while the visit had witnessed the signing of memorandums of understanding that could be canceled by one of the two parties.[/size]
[size=45]The "framework" encouraged the visit to France for what it considered a "qualitative equivalent to the United States," which is so far not reassuring the Shiite alliance because of the presence of some factions in the government, including ministers, which observers interpreted as the reason behind the Sudanese not yet going to Washington and sending a foreign minister. Instead of him.[/size]
[size=45]According to the political sources who spoke to Al-Mada, the United States is still putting pressure on Iraq because of the presence of wings close to Tehran accused of smuggling dollars to the Islamic Republic, which recently called for the intervention of Jordan and Turkey to mediate in the issue of stabilizing the exchange rate of the hard currency.[/size]
[size=45]Returning to Lavrov's visit, Ghazi Faisal, the director of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies, said in an interview with Al-Mada that this visit is "pressure from the radical organizations in Iraq allied with Tehran to strengthen what is called the axis of resistance and opposition, with the presence of Russia in the Iraqi equation."[/size]
[size=45]Faisal refers to "the possibility of Iraq being exposed to pressure and sanctions from the United States in the event that Baghdad goes too far in its traditional international relations with Russia and to save the latter from the American and European embargo imposed on it because of the war in Ukraine."[/size]
[size=45]The researcher compares the political affairs between Iran and Russia, and confirms that the two countries “seek to lift the blockade on them and are looking for dollars and selling oil to bypass the international sanctions imposed on both sides, especially since the two countries have an alliance despite the existence of fundamental differences, but they have common interests to confront the blockade and resort to the black market to obtain The dollar.[/size]
[size=45]Faisal says that «Moscow is looking in Baghdad to open new economic and commercial outlets and to compensate for cutting off Russian oil and gas from Europe, which was replaced by Gulf, Egyptian, Algerian and Nigerien gas».[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, the director of the Iraqi Center states that Baghdad, through relations with Russia, "emphasizes once again the regional and international balance in foreign relations to ensure security and stability," explaining that Moscow "can participate in reconstruction, support for industrial and agricultural projects, and in the field of armament."[/size]
[size=45]Iraq had a bad previous experience in the field of weapons with Russia, as Baghdad, during the era of the second government of Nuri al-Maliki (2012), stopped a deal worth more than 4 billion dollars due to suspicions of corruption.[/size]
[size=45]According to leaks spread at the time, Russian officials were preparing to deliver bribes worth $200 million to Iraqi mediators to complete the deal, while the name of al-Maliki's son (Ahmed al-Maliki) was mentioned in the suspicious deal, for which the government at that time formed an audit committee and stopped the process.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Maliki said years later, when he was Vice President of the Republic in 2018, that the news about the deal, which was published by Western websites, is not based on facts and falls within the “false allegations.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Maliki defended his government's position on the deal and the suspicions of corruption that accompanied it, saying that this prompted him to "cancel it and form another, more specialized committee to complete the deal and complete it accurately and with high transparency."[/size]
[size=45]And he stressed that the weapons that Iraq obtained after the proper completion of the deal "contributed greatly to the victory over ISIS at a time when the world was watching what happened," according to a statement by al-Maliki.[/size]
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