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.



Blinken: US Wants Real, Extended Pauses in Fighting in Gaza

FILE PHOTO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken  speaks at the State Department in Washington, US, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department in Washington, US, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
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Blinken: US Wants Real, Extended Pauses in Fighting in Gaza

FILE PHOTO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken  speaks at the State Department in Washington, US, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department in Washington, US, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

The United States wants real and extended pauses in fighting in Gaza so assistance can get to people who need it, but the best way to help people would be to end the war, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.
"Israel, by the standards it set itself, has accomplished the goals that it set for itself," Blinken told reporters during a visit to Brussels. "This should be a time to end the war."
On Tuesday, after the expiry of a 30-day US deadline for Israel to take steps to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Washington said Israel was
not blocking aid to Gaza and therefore not violating US law.
Eight international aid groups said Israel had failed to meet the US demands to improve access for assistance. Food security experts have said it is likely that
famine is imminent in parts of Gaza.
Biden, whose term ends in January and who will be replaced with his predecessor Donald Trump, has strongly backed Israel since Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.
Since then, more than 43,500 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza, with 2 million displaced people and much of the strip reduced to rubble.
Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has strongly backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's goal of destroying Hamas. He has promised to bring peace to the Middle East, but has not said how he would accomplish that.