An invitation to the White House from US President Joe Biden was extended to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani at a meeting in New York with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to a State Department official.
Sudani, who is currently attending the UN General Assembly in New York, indicated that a date for the official visit to Washington would be decided upon later.
Since Sudani was appointed by a coalition of parties, primarily Shi’ite Muslim organizations close to Tehran, and was sworn in as president last year, Biden and Sudani have not yet met.
Sudani and Blinken “renewed their commitment to continue strengthening the partnership between the two countries,” the State Department official stated.
The US and Iraq have reportedly been close allies since Washington’s invasion of Iraq in 2003, and both sides claim they are working to diversify their partnership away from a nearly exclusive focus on counterterrorism and defense to include economic…