Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin on Feb. 16, 2023. (Credit: RAIGO PAJULA / AFP)
Iraq wants to "strengthen and consolidate relations" with the United States, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani told visiting Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin on Tuesday.
Sudani also underlined Baghdad's commitment to "maintaining balanced relations with the regional and international powers." Iraq has performed a delicate balancing act in maintaining ties with both neighboring Iran and Tehran's arch-foe the United States.
Austin arrived in Iraq on Tuesday on an unannounced visit barely two weeks before the 20th anniversary of the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
"I'm here to reaffirm the US-Iraq strategic partnership as we move toward a more secure, stable and sovereign Iraq," Austin tweeted as he landed in Baghdad.
His visit comes ahead of the March 20 anniversary of the ground invasion which ushered in two decades of bloodshed that Iraq is only now beginning to exit.
Sudani also underlined Baghdad's commitment to "maintaining balanced relations with the regional and international powers." Iraq has performed a delicate balancing act in maintaining...