Baghdad – Mawazine News Prime Minister Mohamed Shiaa al-Sudani met on Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron. A statement by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers received by Mawazine News a copy of it, that “the Sudanese met this evening at the Elysee Palace in the capital Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron.” The meeting witnessed, according to the statement, that “the discussion of bilateral relations between the two countries, and the discussion of a number of regional and international issues of common interest, as well as a number of files of joint cooperation in a number of vital sectors.” He added that “after the meeting, the signing ceremony of the strategic partnership agreement between Iraq and France took place, which included multiple axes in the economic and security fields, combating terrorism and extremism, and cultural exchange, as well as other axes related to crisis management, combating economic crime and organized crime, in protecting the environment and promoting human rights and education.”
PUK President Bafel Talabani receives US envoys Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein in Erbil, Iraq on Jan. 17, 2023. (Source: Bafeltalabani/Twitter)
Iraq is reemerging as a battleground for Iran and the US as deadlock remains over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and as Washington seeks to punish the Islamic Republic for its repression of protests and military cooperation with Russia.
Multiple Iraqi sources have indicated to Amwaj.media that the Joe Biden administration is maneuvering to target both Iran and Russia. Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ Al-Sudani, who took office last October with the support of the Tehran-backed Shiite Coordination Framework, is being pressed to counter currency smuggling to Iran. Meanwhile, Kurdish leaders are said to be under US pressure to close ranks and expedite efforts to export natural gas to Europe.
US maneuvering to undermine Iranian influence is not new. However, there are some novelties to the current offensive. On the one hand, an old face has reappeared in a new role to seemingly coordinate Washington’s confrontation with Moscow and Tehran. Meanwhile, there are hints of changing political winds in Iraq amid the depreciation of the national currency.
Old face returns to Iraq
A senior US delegation led by White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk visited Baghdad and Erbil last week. McGurk—a veteran Iraq hand—was notably joined by Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security Amos Hochstein.
Hochstein has recently upped his credentials as a successful dealmaker after having helped facilitate a “historic” border demarcation deal between Lebanon and Israel last autumn. The agreement determined access to disputed natural gas fields. The Lebanese Hezbollah movement’s nod to the accord despite Hochstein’s ties to Israel suggests that the top US envoy holds the potential to emerge as a key interlocutor on Iran-related dealings. Indeed, Iranian state media did not reject the Lebanon-Israel gas deal as the work of an Israel-born American diplomat, but as a “victory without war.”
Hochstein has a long history of engagement in Iraq. In 1999, four years prior to the US-led invasion that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein (1979-2003), he and other US congressional staffers visited the southern city of Basra as part of a fact-finding mission on the impact of United Nations sanctions. More recently, Hochstein has focused on the geopolitical dimensions of Iraq’s energy sector. While serving as Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs under the Barack Obama administration, he was in favor of Washington staying out of the crisis between Erbil and Baghdad which emerged in 2014 over independent Kurdish oil exports. Of note, Israel has since emerged as the main customer of oil sold by Erbil.
Hochstein also has a history of promoting gas exports to Europe from the Kurdistan region. Describing Iran and Russia as countries which “use energy as a political tool and as a weapon,” he in 2014 stated that a deal to connect gas fields in Iraqi Kurdistan with Europe via Turkey would be “good for all parties.”
Almost a decade later, informed Iraqi sources have told Amwaj.media that Hochstein returned to Iraq last week partly on a mission to help realize the envisioned Kurdish gas exports. The underlying aims are said to be multi-dimensional. The US has since 2003 largely seen Iraq through the prism of its confrontation with Iran. However, one political insider in Baghdad emphasized that the Biden administration now also views Iraq via the lens of its contest with Russia, looking to support European energy security in the long term.
Tough talk in Kurdistan
There are several key stumbling blocks to the expansion of the Kurdistan region’s gas sector, including intra-Kurdish divisions and differences between the regional and federal administrations in Iraq.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one senior government source in Baghdad told Amwaj.media that the visiting US delegation had one key message for the Kurds: do not strengthen Iran in Iraq. “At the level of the Kurdistan region, the discussions were about how the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) can better administer the region, and the need to resolve the ongoing disputes between the KDP and PUK as well as within the PUK itself,” the source alleged, claiming that the US team expressed the sense that “Washington has no room” to deal with Kurdish infighting “considering the major ongoing regional and international conflicts.”
Preferring that his name be withheld, a second senior political source in Erbil echoed this apparent sense of frustration, saying, “The Americans told the Kurds that not resolving disputes between each other and with Baghdad is likely to further strengthen Tehran in Iraq and [particularly] in areas controlled by the PUK.” He elaborated, “Washington is unhappy with the performance of [Kurdistan Region Prime Minister] Masrour Barzani. He has not done enough to resolve the dispute with the PUK, on the contrary his conduct further pushed the PUK towards the Shiite Coordination Framework.”
Barzani was not in Erbil during the US delegation’s visit, attending the World Economic Forum in Davos. Instead, he three days later spoke with Hochstein on the phone. In a tweet, the US envoy said the two agreed on “Kurdish unity & constructive, pragmatic arrangements w[ith] Baghdad,” adding, “We will meet in person soon.”
The source in Baghdad portrayed the tone of the US delegation in meetings with Iraqi Kurdish leaders as “strict,” saying that “the Americans urged them to hold legislative elections [for the Kurdish regional parliament].” Unless the polls are held by October, the Erbil-based source alleged, the US delegation warned that there will be a reaction that could include a cut in support for the Peshmerga and a reduction in the level of diplomatic representation in Erbil. In addition, the US is pressing for “the Peshmerga unification issue to be addressed,” the latter source told Amwaj.media.
Importantly, the senior government source in Baghdad also asserted that the US delegation portrayed gas exports to Europe from the Kurdistan region as “one of the suggested serious solutions to lessen the impact of the gas crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.” One serious obstacle to progress is the legal dispute over the Kurdish regional administration’s oil and gas law, which Iraq’s federal supreme court last year deemed as “unconstitutional.” In its ruling, the top court required the Kurdistan Regional Government to hand over all production from oil fields it controls to Baghdad, which Erbil has rejected.
To end the standoff and also find a solution to recurring revenue sharing disputes, the US side is said to have during visits to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah stressed the need to find a way forward in the Iraqi parliament, the Baghdad-based source asserted. Against this backdrop, the senior source hinted that Washington is not only putting pressure on Kurdish leaders, but also Sunni Parliament Speaker Mohammed Al-Halbousi, who McGurk and Hochstein met on Jan. 17. A readout by the Iraqi parliament on the same day noted that the two sides discussed “the importance of the laws that were mentioned in the government agenda and which will be legislated during the coming period.”
Going after dollar flows
The US delegation is additionally said to have focused on alleged currency smuggling to Iraq’s neighbors, particularly Iran. The Iraqi dinar has since mid-December depreciated by more than 10% following tightened restrictions on US dollar transactions by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York over money laundering concerns.
Amid the currency volatility, the head of the Iran-backed Fatah Alliance on Jan. 10 stated that “the Americans are using the dollar as a weapon to starve people.” Hadi Al-Ameri on Dec. 30 also described the fluctuations as “part of an American plot” and urged political leaders to seek “economic independence.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, and declining to name the alleged smuggling destination, the Baghdad-based senior government source told Amwaj.media that the PUK was explicitly “warned” by the US delegation of “engagement in oil and dollar smuggling.” This point was echoed by the source in Erbil, who alleged that “the Americans urged the Kurds to put an end to the hard currency smuggling from the Kurdistan region.”
In their meeting with Sudani, the US team also urged him “to prevent the US dollar smuggling to Iran and Turkey,” the source in the Iraqi capital asserted, adding, “Sudani raised the issue of Iraqi funds which are in US banks that have been blocked since the Saddam era.”
In the aftermath of the US visit, Iraqi lawmakers and media outlets affiliated with the Iran-backed Shiite Coordination Framework have been highly vocal in criticizing currency smuggling.
Hikmah Movement chief Ammar Al-Hakim on Jan. 21 urged “putting an end to the currency smuggling operations and the ensuing destabilization of the Iraqi currency vis-a-vis the dollar.” Al-Ahad TV, a media affiliate of the armed group Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq, on Jan. 22 cited Fatah Alliance MP Moueen Al-Kadhimi as alleging that “the smuggling of currency takes place by land to the Kurdistan region and from there to Turkey.” On the same day, Ahad TV quoted economic expert Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani as stating that “15 to 50% of the currency sales [by the Central Bank of Iraq] are smuggled [abroad].” Mashhadani added, “The central bank bears responsibility for the rise in the dollar exchange rate.”
The following day, on Jan. 23, Sudani sacked central bank chief Mustafa Ghalib Mukheef, replacing him with Ali Mohsen Al-Alaq. The move followed calls for nationwide rallies as well as protests outside the central bank headquarters in Baghdad on Jan. 25 by the Oct. 2019 protest movement. But opposition activists are already slamming Alaq as an “associate” of State of Law bloc head Nouri Al-Maliki, a former two-time prime minister (2006-14) and ally of Iran. In a 2013 video that has gone viral on Iraqi social media, Alaq can be seen addressing the parliament during his previous term as central bank governor under Maliki’s premiership, saying that “rain” had destroyed 7B USD at the state-owned Rafidain Bank.
But the greatest sign of the direction of the winds on Iraq’s political stage can perhaps be seen in Maliki’s take on the currency crisis. On Jan. 21, the ex-premier stated that Washington’s “weapon is the dollar and any state they want to conquer they conquer with the [power of the] dollar.” Yet, he attributed the currency crisis partly to manipulation and smuggling by unnamed bankers and traders, further alleging that some actors are exploiting the situation to undermine the Sudani administration, which rose to power with the backing of the Shiite Coordination Framework.
Most strikingly, Maliki was clear in his description of the only solution: “controlling the operations of banks and transactions, and preventing the smuggling of the dollar to neighboring countries.” He added, “We must also sit with the Americans, considering that they are the ones who pump dollars into Iraq, and reach an agreement with them to end this problem.”
Twilight News / The President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, received on Thursday evening, January 26, 2023, a phone call from the White House Coordinator for Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk.
Brett McGurk, during the phone call, highlighted his recent visit to Baghdad and Erbil, and talks on future steps to solve problems between the Kurdistan Region and the federal government on the budget file and other issues. He also stressed the importance of strengthening the ranks between the Kurdistan parties and improving relations between the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, according to a statement by Bar
During the call, they also discussed the recent decision issued by the Federal Supreme Court to prevent sending the amount of money that the federal government was scheduled to send to the Kurdistan Region.
The Prime Minister expressed his concern about the issuance of the decision, which aims to disturb the positive atmosphere and undermine efforts to develop relations between Erbil and Baghdad, as it has a political goal behind it.
The White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa confirmed his country’s support for the reforms implemented by the ninth ministerial formation, especially reforms in the Peshmerga ministry, the advancement of the energy sector, the strengthening of economic infrastructure and efforts to combat climate change.
The two sides agreed on the need to overcome all obstacles to the development of the energy sector and increase investments by US companies in the Kurdistan Region. They also agreed to stay in touch.
(Political: Al-Furat News) Prime Minister Mohamed Shiaa Al-Sudani met on Thursday evening with the Prime Minister of France Elizabeth Bourne at the Prime Minister’s Residence, during his one-day official visit to France.
The meeting witnessed a discussion on strengthening bilateral relations between the two friendly countries, through the development of mutual cooperation in the fields of energy, oil and associated gas investment, as well as enhancing cooperation in the fields of transport and culture and in the field of protection and preservation of antiquities.
The meeting was attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Oil, Industry, Minerals and Culture, in addition to the Chairman of the Integrity Commission and the Mayor of Baghdad.
After the meeting, a memorandum of understanding was signed, a declaration of intent on heritage between Iraq and France, and the memorandum was signed by the Iraqi side by the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, while it was signed by the French side by the French Minister of Energy Transformation.
A memorandum of intent related to Sinjar Hospital was also signed, signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the French side by the French Minister of Energy Transformation.
{Political: Al-Furat News) The Office of Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani revealed on Thursday that the latter’s visit to Paris will witness the signing of the strategic partnership agreement between Iraq and France, which will include many files in aspects of joint cooperation.
“Prime Minister Mohamed Shiaa Al-Sudani began the work of his official visit to the French Republic, which lasts one day, and will meet during the visit French President Emmanuel Macron, the French Prime Minister, a number of senior officials of the French government, as well as a number of representatives of French companies and business sector,” his media office said in
He added, “This visit comes within the framework of developing opportunities for deep cooperation with the French Republic, and opening more horizons for investment and exchange, in order to enhance the goals and priorities set by the government program, and in order to develop economic infrastructure.”
The visit will witness the signing of the strategic partnership agreement between Iraq and France, which will include many files in aspects of joint cooperation, in the economic, investment and security fields, combating terrorism and extremism, cultural exchange, and promoting peace in the two countries, the Middle East region and the world.
The agreement will also include promoting the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, cooperation in crisis management, combating economic crime and organized crime, in protecting the environment and promoting human rights and education.
The statement pointed out that “the visit will witness the signing of a bilateral memorandum of understanding in the field of combating corruption and recovering looted and required Iraqi funds in accordance with Iraqi law, as well as the signing of a number of other memorandums of understanding in the field of investment in energy and the oil sector, clean energy, and associated gas investment.”
The visit will include a joint discussion in the field of antiquities protection, and the signing of the Iraqi-French declaration in the field of heritage and antiquities preservation. In addition to holding talks with a number of French companies related to the development of transport sectors, through activating vital transport projects.
Baghdad – Mawazine News The Information Office of the Prime Minister confirmed on Thursday that the Sudanese will meet French President Emmanuel Macron, the French Prime Minister and a number of senior government officials during his official visit to Paris.
The media office said in a statement received by “Mawazin News”, a copy of it, that “Sudani began, on Thursday, in Paris, the work of his official visit to the French Republic, which will last one day, during which he will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, the French Prime Minister, and a number of senior officials in the French government
He added, “This visit to the Prime Minister at the head of a high government delegation comes within the framework of developing opportunities for deep cooperation with the French Republic, and opening more horizons for investment and exchange, in order to enhance the goals and priorities set by the government program, and in order to develop economic infrastructure.”
The Prime Minister’s Information Office continued, “The visit will witness the signing of the strategic partnership agreement between Iraq and France, which will include many files in aspects of joint cooperation, in the economic, investment and security fields, combating terrorism and extremism, cultural exchange, and promoting peace in the two countries, the Middle East region and the world.”
“The convention will include strengthening the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, cooperation in crisis management, combating economic crime and organized crime, in protecting the environment and promoting human rights and education,” he said.
He pointed out that “the visit will witness the signing of a bilateral memorandum of understanding in the field of combating corruption and recovering looted Iraqi funds and required in accordance with Iraqi law, as well as the signing of a number of other memorandums of understanding in the field of investment in energy and the oil sector, clean energy, and associated gas investment.”
He explained that “the visit will include a joint discussion in the field of antiquities protection, the signing of the Iraqi-French declaration in the field of heritage and preservation of antiquities, in addition to holding talks with a number of French companies related to the development of transport sectors, through activating vital transport projects.” Finished 29/m99
Twilight News / Iraqi political analyst based in Washington, Nizar Haidar, spoke on Thursday about the importance of Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani’s visit to France during the current stage.
Haider told Shafaq News that “Iraq is looking for who invests in it, it needs (233) billion dollars to start real sustainable development, according to the latest report issued by the World Bank in this regard, and for its part, France is fully ready to share Iraq’s ambition, and therefore, the French President sponsored last 2022/12/20, sponsored the (Baghdad
He added, “Paris and Baghdad have special relations at various levels, since the seventies until now, despite all the circumstances that went through Iraq and the region, caused by Saddam Hussein’s policies, which stopped the French presence in Iraq for a period of time to return this presence significantly, especially during the war on terrorism.”
Haider also pointed out that “today, as the Sudanese government expresses its readiness to help Europe overcome the energy and gas crisis in particular because of the war in Ukraine, it is very natural that Paris is aware of this readiness to be one of those who benefit from Iraqi gas, especially since the French giant Total is the first in the world in revenues in the year 2022, is one of the largest international companies specialized in the field of gas in particular and oil in general, for example, it sponsored the border demarcation agreement between Lebanon and Israel and with regard to the dispute over oil and gas wells between the two parties. Total is now responsible for the exploration, extraction and division of revenues between Lebanon and Israel. She is also the supervisor of the gas pipeline project passing from the Kurdistan Region to Europe through Turkish territory.”
He added that “Sudani seeks during his current visit to complete the deal with (Total), which is estimated at (27) billion dollars, which has remained stalled for several reasons over recent years, based on all this, it can be said that a large and wide exchange of benefits and interests between Baghdad and Paris is under way to be completed if Baghdad seizes the important opportunity to achieve sustainable
The Iraqi political analyst based in Washington stressed that “capturing the opportunity requires a stable political and security environment as well as legislation and laws that facilitate the process of building economic, financial and energy partnerships between Iraq and other countries, including, perhaps France.”
On Thursday, the Iraqi prime minister flew to the French capital Paris at the official invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.
Al-Sudani said in written responses to questions to AFP that “the Iraqi government will seek to activate the agreements concluded between the two countries, especially in the transport, energy and investment sectors.”
In 2021, the French company Total Energy signed a contract with Iraq worth ten billion dollars, but difficulties hindering its implementation despite Baghdad’s efforts to renew its electrical networks.
The agreement with the French giant includes the construction of gas collection and processing units extracted from crude oil used for power generation and planning to build a one gigawatt photovoltaic power plant in southern Iraq.
Al-Sudani expressed his hope for security, saying, “We hope that there will be security cooperation between the two countries (…) Especially in the field of training and development of Iraqi security capabilities, as well as in the field of weapons procurement.”
Macron has visited Iraq twice since the beginning of his first term in 2017.
In December 2022, Macron, during a regional conference in support of Iraq, called on Baghdad to take a path other than the “extraor-suppleated model.”
Baghdad – Mawazine News Prime Minister Mohamed Shiaa al-Sudani left on Thursday for Paris for an official visit.
“Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani went today to Paris on an official visit to France, at the head of a senior government delegation,” the Sudanese office received by Mawazine News said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Mohamed Shiaa Al-Sudani expressed hope that his visit to France would be a “bear of good” and lay the right foundations for a sustainable partnership. Finished 29/n33
Qatar is in talks to acquire a share of a group of energy projects belonging to France’s Total Energy worth $27 billion in Iraq, as Baghdad hopes to stop the efforts of Western energy companies to get out of the country, three sources told Reuters.
Qatar Energy is looking to acquire a stake in about 30 percent in the project, one of the sources said.
Energy companies rarely own 100% of the projects and prefer to enter into partnerships to reduce risk.
Oil companies are seeking to leave Iraq as a result of weak revenue-sharing agreements.
When Total Energy and Baghdad signed an agreement in 2021 to build four giant solar, gas, electricity and water projects in southern Iraq over 25 years, hopes were high that companies would refrain from leaving the country.
ExxonMobil, Shell and B. B to reduce its operations in Iraq over the past few years.
But the project, which aims to boost Iraq’s economy and reduce its dependence on Iranian gas, has yet to be launched.
Total Energy’s deal with Iraq, which needs an initial investment of $10 billion, followed a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron in September 2021.
Sources closely linked to the deal told Reuters in February 2022 that the terms of the agreement, which have not yet been announced and previously published, raised concerns among Iraqi politicians and were unprecedented for Iraq.
The deal includes the construction of a natural gas collection network to supply local power plants through the expansion of the Artawi field, the construction of a large-scale seawater treatment facility to boost production from other fields with water injection technology, and the construction of a large solar power plant in Basra, but little progress has been made since then.
Disputes over the terms of the agreement threaten the project to cancel, sources told Reuters last year.
Neither Qatar Energy nor Qatar’s government liaison office have so far responded to a request for comment on the talks.
Total Energies also did not confirm the agreement when contacted by Reuters.
A senior official at Iraq’s oil ministry said he was unaware of Qatar Energy’s plans to acquire a stake in the Total Energies project.
A spokesman for the Elysee Palace said Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani would travel to Paris later on Thursday and meet Macron.
One of the sources told Reuters that Al-Sudani will also meet with Total Energys CEO Patrick Pouyanne in an effort to end the crisis.
Qatar Energy and Total Energies are in talks on a stake in the project, two of the sources said, and there is high confidence that the deal will be made, although no final agreement has yet been reached.
{Economic: Al-Furat News} An informed source revealed “significant changes” that will affect the departments of government banks.
The source told {Euphrates News} that “significant changes will affect the management of government banks soon in light of the government’s three-month period given to them to evaluate the performance and tasks of the departments and the achievements that have been implemented within the framework of the government program, which represents the future vision of the government.” Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani on Monday exempted the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq Mustafa Ghaleb Zaid from his post against the backdrop of the continued rise in the exchange rate of the dollar and the bank’s inability to rein in it. Al-Sudani assigned the former governor of the bank, Ali Mohsen Al-Alaq, to manage the bank by proxy. The Prime Minister also retired the director of the Trade Bank of Iraq and assigned Riblal Al-Hamdani to manage the Trade Bank of Iraq in addition to his duties.
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