Shafaq News- Washington
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's official visit to the United Statesmarks the most significant such trip by an Iraqi government since 2003, Iraqigovernment spokesperson Haidar al-Aboudi said on Tuesday.
Speaking to Shafaq News, al-Aboudi said Baghdad views the visit as thestart of a phase built on investment, energy, and economic development, andthat this track “rather than the military and security cooperation that definedrelations over the past two decades, is what will sustain ties between Baghdadand Washington.”
Al-Zaidi arrived in Washington on Monday at the head of a high-leveldelegation that includes ministers, officials, investors, and companyexecutives, on an official visit scheduled to last seven days.
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According to al-Aboudi, the government intends to use current politicalmomentum to open Iraqi strategic projects to major American firms, particularlyin oil, energy, and infrastructure. Several large US companies have alreadyresponded to that approach, and some have entered understandings with the Iraqiside, he said, adding that the outcomes of those agreements will be announcedduring the visit.
On restricting weapons to state control, al-Aboudi said the governmenthas treated the file as a founding priority, framing it not only as a securitymatter but as a precondition for attracting foreign investment.
The current government has moved from pledges to implementation on thatfile, unlike its predecessors, according to al-Aboudi, who linked progress oninternal security directly to investor confidence, arguing that “establishingstate authority reassures international companies and lays the groundwork forstronger economic relations, with the United States first among them.”
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