Al-Awadi: PM and US President-elect contact was highly positive

INA - BAGHDAD

The Iraqi government spokesman, Basim Al-Awadi, said on Saturday that the recent contact between PM Muhammed S. Al-Sudani and US President-elect Donald Trump was highly positive.

"The recent contact between the PM and US President-elect Donald Trump was highly positive. Without a doubt, such contact should have taken place 48 hours after President Trump won the elections and before the official inauguration day, and the keenness of both parties to communicate by phone reflects the mutual desire between Baghdad and Washington to maintain a high level of understanding, communication and push relations to high levels," said Al-Awadi to the Iraqi News Agency - INA.

He added, "The two parties stressed the importance of moving forward with relations, and the Prime Minister referred to President Trump's positive statements about stopping the war in the region and stressed his readiness to participate effectively in this path to maintain stability in the region. President Trump also indicated his aspiration to meet with the Prime Minister soon, which confirms that Baghdad and Washington are committed to the agreed path and what is required is cooperation to enhance it."

"Since 2011 until now, Baghdad and Washington have been able to build a solid infrastructure for relations based on technical and professional committees and a clear roadmap starting with the Strategic Framework Agreement SFA, the Joint Cooperation Committee JCC, the Higher Coordination Committee HCC, and the Joint Security Dialogue Committee JSCD, in addition to the role of the foreign ministries of the two countries, the role of ambassadors and the continuation of hotlines through the international relations committees in the PM's Office. This culminates in communication between the Prime Minister and senior US administration officials, and each of these committees plays its role professionally and technically far from political influences in enhancing the reality of the relationship between the two countries," he explained.

Al-Awadi pointed out that "certainly the political relationship between Baghdad and Washington has gone through ups and downs, but the solid ground, mutual readiness for joint work, and good intentions have always adjusted the level of decline and pushed it forward. Therefore, the Iraqi government, based on its first duty to preserve Iraq's foreign interests, places the relationship with the international community and major countries at the top of the list of political priorities and will continue the path of working with various administrations based on common interests and mutual respect."