During her visit to Iraq and Jordan from the 29th of April until the 5th of May, Barbara A. Leaf, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, will discuss various United States priorities in the region. These priorities include promoting economic cooperation and discussing security challenges.
The Assistant Secretary started her trip in Jordan, where she met with the Jordanian Prime Minister as well as Minister of Defense, Dr Bisher Khasawneh, as well as the Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister long with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Mr Ayman Safadi, to examine areas of bilateral cooperation, economic reform, and ways to expand the strategic ties between United States and Jordan.
In Iraq, she will reaffirm our commitment to a secure, stable, and sovereign Iraq by meeting with key government officials and members of civil society to discuss the matter.
The Assistant Secretary will be concentrating their efforts in both Baghdad and Erbil on advancing our comprehensive cooperation with the government and people of Iraq.
The U.S. Mission in Iraq is committed to fostering a long-lasting strategic partnership with the Iraqi people and government. Together with our Iraqi allies and the Iraqi people, the U.S. government and the U.S. Mission in Iraq are actively working to support prosperous, democratic, and unified Iraq.
The United States supported Iraq’s attempts to reach the December 2017 milestone of freeing the country from ISIS in conjunction with the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. The United States stepped up efforts to stabilize liberated territories after ISIS was defeated militarily in Iraq. In December 2021, our security partnership entirely changed to advice, enable, and help posture. Iraq is now an important regional ally for the United States and a voice for democracy and moderation in the Middle East. The government and legislature of Iraq are both active, and the country is contributing more and more to the area.
The U.S.-Iraq bilateral relationship is supported by the SFA between the two countries. It highlights the significant relationship and shared objectives between the two countries while addressing a wide range of bilateral issues, such as political relations and diplomacy, defence and security, trade as well as finance, energy, judicial and law enforcement issues, services, science, culture, education, and environment. The Higher Coordinating Committee and various Joint Coordination Committees are in charge of directing SFA implementation efforts.
