Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said that his upcoming visit to Washington is aimed at regulating Iraq’s relations with the United States and pushing for the withdrawal of foreign combat forces from the Arab country. In an interview with Saudi-owned Al-Hadath television news network on Sunday, Kadhimi said there is no need for the presence of foreign combat forces on Iraqi soil. He also said that he would not allow his country to be used to threaten its neighbors. The Iraqi prime minister is scheduled to visit Washington next week to push for a concrete timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. On Thursday, Kadhimi and US Envoy Brett McGurk discussed the issue in Baghdad. The White House said on Friday that US President Joe Biden will meet Kadhimi on July 26 to discuss “the strategic partnership between the United States and Iraq”. Baghdad-Washington relations have been complicated since the US assassination of Iran’s top anti-terror Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani along with Deputy Commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization United (PMU) Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis at Baghdad International Airport in January 2020, in a drone attack that was directly ordered by former US President Donald Trump.
