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US Asks Iraq to Play Role in Calming Situation in Gaza

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Saturday. (dpa)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Saturday. (dpa)
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US Asks Iraq to Play Role in Calming Situation in Gaza

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Saturday. (dpa)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Saturday. (dpa)

US President Joe Biden spoke on Monday with Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and discussed ongoing efforts to prevent an expansion of the Gaza conflict

The telephone call came about ten days after the al-Aqsa Flood operation launched by al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing.

A White House statement said the two leaders discussed the importance of addressing the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza in coordination with the UN and regional partners.

Biden and Sudani also affirmed the importance of the bilateral partnership between Iraq and the United States as outlined in their Strategic Framework Agreement.

They committed to regular coordination between their teams to advance shared objectives and preserve regional stability over the coming weeks.

Biden, according to a responsible Iraqi official source, urged Sudani to play a role in calming the tensions surrounding the Gaza crisis that is open to all possibilities.

The Iraqi source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Biden was the one who initiated the contact with the PM, and he also asked Sudani to make exceptional efforts to contain the conflict to prevent it from turning into a wide-scale war.

The source added that the US President stressed the importance of Iraq playing this role at this sensitive stage.

Sudani's media office said the call asserted the importance of mobilizing efforts and joint work to support stability in the region, saying they discussed measures to boost the bilateral relationship between Iraq and the US.

The two sides stressed the importance of containing the conflict and preventing the expansion of the war that targets civilians and threatens regional and international peace and stability.

Sudani asserted that Iraq has maintained its unyielding stance in supporting the Palestinian cause, calling the recent escalation of violence the "natural result" of Israel's crimes and violations against Palestinian people that has been met by "international silence" for years.

According to a statement from his office, the PM also highlighted the need to open humanitarian corridors to deliver aid to the civilians in Gaza.

Last month, Biden sent an official invitation to Sudani to visit the US at the end of this year.

Political observers in Iraq had previously doubted the White House could extend an invitation to Sudani to visit Washington.

However, Biden's invitation to Sudani, conveyed to him in New York by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and the phone call regarding the Gaza events brought the issue of the Strategic Framework Agreement between Iraq and the US back to the forefront.

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Blinken Seeks to Avert Syria Turmoil with Europeans on Final Trip

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) met French FM Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. Ludovic MARIN / POOL/AFP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) met French FM Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. Ludovic MARIN / POOL/AFP
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Blinken Seeks to Avert Syria Turmoil with Europeans on Final Trip

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) met French FM Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. Ludovic MARIN / POOL/AFP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) met French FM Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. Ludovic MARIN / POOL/AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading on Thursday to Rome for talks with European counterparts on bringing stability to Syria in the face of flare-ups with Türkiye, capping what is likely his final trip.
Blinken had been expected to remain in Italy through the weekend to join President Joe Biden but the outgoing US leader scrapped his trip, which was to include an audience with Pope Francis, to address wildfires sweeping Los Angeles.
Blinken, on a trip that has taken him to South Korea, Japan and France, was heading on Thursday from Paris and will meet for dinner in Rome with counterparts from Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
In Paris on Wednesday, Blinken said the United States was united with the Europeans on seeking a peaceful, stable Syria, a month after the opposition factions toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
But concerns have mounted over Türkiye’s threats against Syrian Kurdish fighters, who have effectively run their own state during the brutal civil war engulfing Syria.
A war monitor said that battles between Turkish-backed groups, supported by air strikes, and Kurdish-led forces killed 37 people on Thursday.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have worked with the United States on Washington's main stated priority -- battling the ISIS extremist group -- but Türkiye says the SDF has links with PKK militants at home.
Blinken in Paris said that Türkiye had "legitimate concerns" and that the SDF should gradually be integrated into a revamped national army, with foreign fighters removed.
"That's a process that's going to take some time. And in the meantime, what is profoundly not in the interest of everything positive we see happening in Syria would be a conflict," Blinken told reporters.
"We'll work very hard to make sure that that doesn't happen."
Blinken said he expected no change on goals in Syria from US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes over on January 20.
During his last term, Trump briefly said he would accede to a plea by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to pull out US troops that have been working in Syria with the Kurdish forces.
But he backed down after counter-appeals led by French President Emmanuel Macron.
When to ease sanctions?
Also on the agenda in Rome will be whether and when to ease sanctions on Syria.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday that some sanctions "could be lifted quickly".
The US Treasury Department said this week it would ease enforcement on restrictions that affect essential services.
But US officials say they will wait to see progress before any wider easing of sanctions -- and the Biden administration is unlikely in its final days to accept the political costs of removing Syria's victorious Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels from the US "terrorism" blacklist.
While Western powers are largely in synch on Syria, some differences remain.
Blinken reiterated US calls on European countries to repatriate citizens of theirs detained in Syria for working with the ISIS group and languishing in vast camps run by the Kurdish fighters.
France and Britain, with painful memories of attacks by homegrown extremists, have little desire to bring militants back.
The Rome talks come a week after the French and German foreign ministers, Jean-Noel Barrot and Annalena Baerbock, jointly visited Damascus and met new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa to encourage an inclusive transition.
Sharaa, has promised to protect minorities after the fall of the iron-fisted but largely secular Assad.
A senior US official in turn said last month on meeting Sharaa that Washington was dropping a $10-million bounty on his head.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will pay his own visit to Syria on Friday, during which he plans to announce an initial development aid package.
Italy's hard-right government has pledged to reduce immigration. Millions of Syrians sought asylum in Europe during the civil war, triggering a backlash in some parts of the continent that shook up European politics.
In contrast to other major European powers, Italy had moved to normalize ties with Assad just weeks before he fell, presuming at the time that he had effectively won the war.