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. 



White House Urges Hamas to Sign on to New Deal to Ensure Hostage Release

Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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White House Urges Hamas to Sign on to New Deal to Ensure Hostage Release

Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The Biden administration is urging Hamas to sign on to a new ceasefire deal that would ensure the release of hostages, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday.

Kirby said the White House welcomed Israel's decision to send another team to Doha to continue negotiations.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have been trying to mediate a deal for a ceasefire and hostage release for a year with no success and are making another push this month before Donald Trump's inauguration.
Ceasefire efforts have continually stumbled on a fundamental disagreement over how to end the conflict. Hamas says it will accept an agreement and release the hostages only if Israel commits to ending the war. Israel says it will agree to stop fighting only once Hamas is destroyed.

On Friday, Hamas said it wanted "a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip" and the return of displaced people to their homes in all areas of the enclave.

US President Joe Biden has repeatedly called for a ceasefire agreement. Trump has said that if there is not a deal to release the hostages before his inauguration, "all hell is going to break out.”