Iraq Stresses Significance of Ties with US  

Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Shia al-Sudani speaks during a vote in Sudani's cabinet at the parliament in Baghdad, Iraq, October 27, 2022. (Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Shia al-Sudani speaks during a vote in Sudani's cabinet at the parliament in Baghdad, Iraq, October 27, 2022. (Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via Reuters)
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Iraq Stresses Significance of Ties with US  

Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Shia al-Sudani speaks during a vote in Sudani's cabinet at the parliament in Baghdad, Iraq, October 27, 2022. (Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Shia al-Sudani speaks during a vote in Sudani's cabinet at the parliament in Baghdad, Iraq, October 27, 2022. (Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via Reuters)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani stressed on Friday the importance of his country’s ties with the United States. 

Iraq is seeking balanced ties with its regional and international environment in a way that preserves national sovereignty, he said as he welcomed a US Congress delegation headed by Senator Mark Takano 

Iraq is committed to supporting the stability and security of the region, he added according to a government statement. 

Sudani and the American officials discussed bilateral relations between Baghdad and Washington, the war on terrorism and the Iraqi forces’ crackdown on ISIS remnants. 

They discussed bolstering relations and the partnership in line with the strategic agreement, including in combating climate change and water scarcity. 

Iraq is struggling with water shortages due to Türkiye and Iran reducing supplies from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which are having an impact on its agricultural production and increasing desertification. 



US Ambassador to Lebanon 'Very Happy' over Aoun's Election as President

People carry national flags as they hold a moment of silence marking the one-year anniversary of Beirut's port blast, near the site of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Emilie Madi Purchase Licensing Rights
People carry national flags as they hold a moment of silence marking the one-year anniversary of Beirut's port blast, near the site of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Emilie Madi Purchase Licensing Rights
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US Ambassador to Lebanon 'Very Happy' over Aoun's Election as President

People carry national flags as they hold a moment of silence marking the one-year anniversary of Beirut's port blast, near the site of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Emilie Madi Purchase Licensing Rights
People carry national flags as they hold a moment of silence marking the one-year anniversary of Beirut's port blast, near the site of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Emilie Madi Purchase Licensing Rights

US ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson said she was "very happy" over Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun's election as president on Thursday, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the post.

Johnson and other foreign envoys had attended Thursday's session at the Lebanese parliament in which Aoun was elected.

For its part, France's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday said the election of a new Lebanese president turns a new page for the country and must now be followed by the appointment of a new government capable of carrying out reforms.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said that a new government will have carry out reforms necessary for Lebanon's economic recovery, stability, security and sovereignty, and added that France calls on all Lebanese political leaders and authorities to work towards those goals.