Iraq and US Need to Return to Dialogue Over Future of Coalition Force, Says Iraq FM 

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein addresses journalists during a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart Hanke Bruins Slot at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP)
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein addresses journalists during a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart Hanke Bruins Slot at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP)
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Iraq and US Need to Return to Dialogue Over Future of Coalition Force, Says Iraq FM 

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein addresses journalists during a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart Hanke Bruins Slot at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP)
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein addresses journalists during a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart Hanke Bruins Slot at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP)

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, stressed the need to return to the negotiating table over the future of the US-led international military coalition in Iraq, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Talks between the two countries began in January, but less than 24 hours later three US service members were killed in an attack near the Syrian-Jordanian border that the United States said was carried out by Iran-backed militant groups in Syria and Iraq. The talks have since paused then.

The US military launched airstrikes on Friday in both Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the militias it backs, in retaliation for the attack in Jordan.

Hussein stressed to Blinken the Iraqi government's rejection of such attacks saying that "Iraq is not an arena for settling scores between rival countries."

The United States has 2,500 troops in Iraq, advising and assisting local forces to prevent a resurgence of ISIS, which in 2014 seized large parts of Iraq and Syria before being defeated. Hundreds of troops from mostly European countries are also part of the coalition.

Iraq's government says ISIS is defeated and the coalition's job is over, however, a US withdrawal would likely increase concern in Washington about the influence of arch foe Iran over Iraq's ruling elite.

Iraq is keen to explore establishing bilateral relations with coalition members, including military cooperation in training and equipment.

Hussein formally demanded the US Treasury Department reconsider the sanctions it had imposed on several Iraqi banks, asking whether those sanctions were put in place over compliance issues or "other political reasons."

In July, Washington barred 14 Iraqi banks from conducting dollar transactions as part of a wider crackdown on the illicit use of dollars.



Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is establishing a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip.

In a statement on Wednesday, he described it as the Morag corridor, using the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, suggesting it would run between the two southern cities.

His comments came as Palestinian officials at hospitals inside Gaza said Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday had killed more than 40 people, nearly a dozen of them children.

The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone just inside Gaza along its security fence and has greatly expanded since the war against Hamas began in 2023. Israel says the buffer zone is needed for its security, while Palestinians view it as a land grab that further shrinks the narrow coastal territory, home to around 2 million people.