Al-Sudani faces American pressure to resolve problems with the Kurds before visiting Washington

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[size=52]Al-Sudani faces American pressure to resolve problems with the Kurds before visiting Washington[/size]

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Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani is expected to make his first official visit to the White House in April since taking power in October 2022, and while the two sides are close to setting a date, there is increasing pressure on his government to improve relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government. According to sources with close knowledge of the deliberations, who spoke to the American Al-Monitor website.[/size]
[size=45]The pressure was evident during Sudanese's meeting with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, according to two sources. One source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al-Monitor, “Sullivan told Al-Sudani that his visit should be in a good context, as we have witnessed progress in the relationship with Erbil.”[/size]
[size=45]Baghdad continues to withhold Erbil's share of the budget, and refuses to allow the resumption of oil exports from a Kurdistan Regional Government pipeline extending to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea. At the same time, the Iraqi Federal Court continues to issue decisions aimed at undermining the constitutionally stipulated autonomy of the Kurdistan Regional Government, as it recently issued a decree placing all oil and non-oil revenues under Baghdad’s control.[/size]
[size=45]Red carpet or red lines?
Administration sources speaking in the background confirmed that the reason for not setting a date for Al-Sudani’s visit yet is closely related to President Joe Biden’s busy agenda in the period leading up to the presidential elections.[/size]
[size=45]But the sources confirmed that resolving the chronic disputes between Baghdad and Erbil is a priority, because they affect stability in a constantly divided Iraq, and thus undermine the interests of the United States. Rising tensions between the United States and Iran since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict in October have heightened a sense of urgency, as Tehran tightens its grip on Baghdad and presses for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]A delegation consisting of Sudanese advisors for foreign, economic and energy affairs, including Farhad Abdel Aziz Alaeddin, Falah Al-Amiri, Kazem Muhammad Jawad Al-Hassani, Ali Hadi Muhammad Al-Musawi, Fayyad Hassan Nimah, Krikor Bakram Musi Deir Hakobyan and Muhammad Naji Muhammad Al-Najjar - were in Washington last week. To help lay the groundwork for the Iraqi Prime Minister's visit.[/size]
[size=45]But Al-Monitor referred to the visit made by Masrour Barzani before Al-Sudani, saying: “The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, had to present his case first during a visit he made to Washington from February 26 to March 1.”[/size]
[size=45]The report continued: “The red carpet treatment given to Masrour Barzani – including meetings with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, White House Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk, and US Energy Envoy Amos Hochstein – is seen as evidence that the Biden administration has raised the profile of the entity.” Kurdish strategy in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Jeffrey Pyatt, Hockstein, and McGurk are expected to press Baghdad on the oil issue when they travel to the region in the coming months. One of the sources in the administration said that Masrour Barzani left “a very good impression.” The presentation by Masrour Barzani’s team on the KRG’s banking sector reforms in particular received high praise from Brian Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, with the latter noting that the KRG’s push for greater financial transparency, particularly payments Digital technology for public sector employees is what Washington has been asking Baghdad to do “for years.”[/size]
[size=45]“The Kurdistan Regional Government remains one of the United States’ most steadfast, if often frustrated, allies in the region,” the report says. This appeared when the Kurds, along with the Sunnis, boycotted the Iraqi parliament session on February 10 to condemn the American strikes on Iranian-backed Shiite militias and to petition for the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]He points out that the region's desire for American forces to remain in Iraq is not surprising, given that American protection existed for a long period during the era of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. For this reason, their presence should serve as a deterrent to attacks launched by Iran and its allies in the Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq. But this was not the case, according to Al-Monitor, which continues by saying: “On the contrary, the Kurdistan Region became a suitable scapegoat through which (Iran and its militias) could express their dissatisfaction with the United States and pressure American forces to leave Iraq.”[/size]
[size=45]On January 15, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired a barrage of cruise missiles at the home of Iraqi Kurdish businessman Bishru Dizayi in Erbil, claiming it was an Israeli spy base. Diziyi, his 11-month-old daughter Zeina, and a Christian businessman were killed in the attack. In March 2022, Iran, making similar claims, fired 12 Fateh-110 missiles at the home of another Kurdish businessman, Baz Karim Barzani, who also has close ties to the Barzani family.[/size]
[size=45]The report says: “American drones and howitzers heading to Erbil have been stationed at Al-Faw port near Basra for more than eight months,” noting that the federal government is obstructing their access to the region.[/size]
[size=45]KRG officials insist, according to Al-Monitor, that Baghdad’s refusal to allow the resumption of Kurdish oil exports stemming from an arbitration case it filed and won against Turkey is another area in which the United States is failing to use its influence. In February 2022, the Iraqi Federal Court deemed the Oil and Gas Law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional, putting its existing contracts with international oil companies in limbo as they were deemed invalid, the court said.[/size]
[size=45]The Kurdistan Regional Government agreed that exports should be marketed through the Iraqi state oil company, SOMO, in line with the ruling of the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration. Baghdad now insists that international oil companies agree to impose a lower figure for the barrel of oil they produce in Kurdistan than the average cost of $17.00. Oil companies refuse. The Kurdistan Regional Government relies on oil revenues to pay public sector wages.[/size]
[size=45]Certainly, Baghdad's obstruction has less to do with finances than with a sustained campaign to undermine the Kurdistan Regional Government's autonomy, critics say. Iraq has lost an estimated $11 billion in revenue since exports stopped in March 2023.[/size]
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