US Ambassador: Washington provides significant financial support to help Iraq conduct elections

The US Ambassador to Iraq, Matthew Tueller, announced that the United States of America provided financial support for the success of the elections in Iraq, while noting that the meeting of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi and US President Joe Biden at the White House are indications that relations serve the interests of the two countries. 

He added, "There is a firm commitment to work on establishing strong foundations, and to continue expanding the ways of cooperation on the economic and cultural level, not just on the security side. He pointed out that "the current US military presence in Iraq came at the invitation of the Iraqi government in 2014," noting that "the United States leads the international coalition that includes more than 90 countries that responded to Iraq's request for support to defeat Daesh. 

We want to see elections take place, but above all, the Iraqi people want to see fair elections, for many Iraqis to vote, to show that they still believe in democracy, they still believe in the political process and the Iraqi constitution," Tueller said. 

He continued: "We encourage normal relations between Iran and Iraq, we do not seek to create problems between Iraq and Iran," stressing that "at the end we want normal relations between the two countries based on mutual respect and respect for sovereignty. 

He stressed that "a strong Iraqi state is the one who can confront this kind of malicious actions. 

And he stated: "We strongly support the "white paper" presented by this government under the supervision of the Minister of Finance. It represent very important reform steps that will reduce the government's heavy dependence on oil energy revenues, diversify sources of income, and reduce the public sector's very large dependence on salaries. ", stressing that "this type of reforms will be difficult, and will not happen overnight, but it will certainly lead to the revitalization and strengthening of the Iraqi economy. 

He pointed out that "it is sometimes difficult to make international companies think of investing in Iraq now because there are security and investment obstacles, in addition to the fact that the oil market is currently changing very quickly. 

He stressed that "some companies operating in Iraq are now considering reducing their activities and returning to diversify their sources of income. But we will continue to work with the Iraqi government, because we understand that the Iraqi economy at the current stage and in   the future will depend heavily on oil and natural gas