PoliticiansIraqAmericaForeign Minister Fouad Hussein
2023-02-25 12:27Font
Twilight News / Former US Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman pointed out on Saturday a number of positive topics that resulted from the visit of Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein to Washington, likely to send an invitation from the White House to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani to visit the United States of America.
Suleiman is president of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and served as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq from September 2016 to 2018.
“Fouad Hussein, Iraq’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, visited Washington from February 9-15,” Silliman said in an article. As the first high-level representative of new Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani, Hussein came to the United States seeking to broaden and deepen “financial and economic relations” with the United States, stating that his focus on economic — not security — issues shows that U.S.-Iraqi relations have been “sound” and reached a new stage.
“Although Hussein’s visit was long planned, Hussein’s misfortune was that he had to engage with senior officials from President Joseph Biden’s administration while they were still focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the downing of the Chinese spy balloon, and fears that Iran and Russia would use the Iraqi banking system to circumvent U.S. sanctions and obtain U In addition to further pressure, I sent a letter dated February 2 from the new chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee about Baghdad’s relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government, and another letter dated February 10 from three other members of Congress, accusing the Sudanese government of siding with the Iranian regime, colluding with money laundering operations carried out by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in From the Iraqi point of view, Hussein arrived in the wake of the currency crisis and the sharp devaluation of the Iraqi dinar as a result of the Central Bank of Iraq’s application of the new controls imposed by the US Treasury Department on the exchange of the dollar in the Iraqi market.
Silliman continued, “Hussein’s choice to go to Washington was a wise choice because of his decades of political experience and friendship with high-ranking US officials in four US administrations. During his week-long visit, Hussain met with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Presidential Special Climate Envoy John Kerry, USAID Administrator Samantha Power, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wali Ademo, and other administration officials. Hussein and Blinken chaired the Cabinet-level Supreme Coordination Committee on the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement, which was also attended by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Hussein also attended meetings in Congress, spoke to U.S. business representatives, spoke in front of think tanks, and appeared in U.S. and international media.
“To refute Washington’s strong narrative about the Sudanese government’s complicity in expanding Iranian influence in Iraq, Hussein referred to the prime minister’s actions that run counter to Iranian goals in Iraq, especially his public statement in January about his support for the continued presence of US military forces in Iraq.”
“Hussein came to Washington for several specific purposes,” he explained. First, he wanted to avoid imposing US sanctions on Iraq because of the dollar market in it, trade with Iran and the import of natural gas and electricity from it, and commercial dealings with Russia. With regard to Iran, it has had some success arguing that Iraq needs US dollars to carry out legitimate international trade, and that Iraq depends on Iran for more than 40% of its electricity production. U.S. sanctions could cut off Iran’s gas and electricity supplies, which could have catastrophic effects on Iraq and the region. At the same time, other members of his delegation worked with the US Treasury and Federal Reserve officials to draft technical details through which the CBI will monitor the final destination of US dollar transactions in Iraq to boost confidence in reducing US dollars reaching Iran. The strongly worded paragraph on currency markets in the HCC joint statement showed success in gaining some flexibility from Washington, but also made clear that the United States expects a lot of Iraqi actions.
“Similarly, the delegation argued that Russia is an important part of the Iraqi economy, so Washington should ease restrictions on deals with Russia. For example, Russian oil giant Rosneft bought a 60 percent stake in the main oil export pipeline in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2017, and in 2018 committed to financing the gas pipeline in the Kurdistan Region. However, Washington does not seem to find arguments for flexibility in deals with Russia convincing.” The former US ambassador pointed out that “Hussein sought more investments from the US government and the private sector to acquire the large amount of gas burning in Iraq, and therefore, goes wasted. Hussein argued that Iraq spends $4 billion each year importing natural gas and electricity from Iran, and wants the support of the US government and the private sector to replace those imports, and use the money provided to provide services to Iraqis. Some members of the entourage expressed willingness to re-examine previous gas acquisitions that faced political opposition or disappeared within the Iraqi bureaucracy. The joint statement showed the U.S. government’s strong support for the further development of Iraq’s energy sector.”
“Behind the scenes, Hussein and his entourage sought to downplay the administration’s and congressional concerns that Sudani was the result of Iranian support,” he said. They argued that political support for the prime minister comes not only from pro-Iranian political parties, but also from the two main Kurdish parties and moderate Sunni, Christian and Shiite parties. In addition to Al-Sudani’s stated support for US forces, the Iraqi delegation pointed to the focus of Al-Sudani’s early policy of providing services to Iraqis and taking steps to confront corruption. Moderately, the delegation lobbied for an invitation for Sudan to visit the White House in the not too distant future as a sign of Washington’s support, arguing that this would help the prime minister pursue policies such as economic and administrative reform that do not have the support of pro-Iranian parties and militias. In the view of a high-ranking and credible Iraqi Kurdish official, these arguments were not only a point of response to fears of Iranian hegemony and its militias in Baghdad, but also came as a concrete step Washington could take to strengthen the prime minister’s position against potential pro-Iranian rivals.
He pointed out that “Hussein’s greatest achievement is simply to return Iraq to the foreign policy map in a positive way. Senior U.S. officials participating in the Supreme Coordinating Committee, and Hussein’s intense public debates on Iraq, appear to have convinced many in the administration to review how to make progress on the long-standing U.S. policy goals of a prosperous, democratic, and sovereign Iraq. In the wake of his visit, Baghdad and Washington will need to take concrete steps to build trust. He added, “From the Iraqi side, Baghdad must faithfully implement its commitments on the dollar market. To broaden the agenda beyond financial flow, Baghdad should designate more trips to Washington by cabinet-level officials, especially those with economic portfolios. It would be prudent for Baghdad to select cabinet officials capable of convincingly arguing that Iraq is committed not only to signing a memorandum of understanding with the private sector, but also doing business, perhaps with a number of test cases fully applied for high-profile businesses. Finally, tangible progress in addressing the issues facing Iraqi minorities—especially Iraqi Kurds, Yazidis, and Christians—can have greater political support than Washington.”
“While Washington remains skeptical, it should consider reciprocal visits by senior U.S. officials and call for further discussions of Baghdad’s economic agenda, particularly on gas acquisitions and climate issues,” said the head of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. If Washington feels enough commitment from Sudani and his government to the agenda set by the secretary of state, it is not unlikely to extend an invitation to the prime minister to visit Washington.
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