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My exclusive conversation with Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shira al Sudani. I sat down with him in Berdad for a ranging discussion on the nation's economy, oil production, and the region's geopolitical challenges, and this first part of our interview. He told me the time has come for US troops to withdraw from Iraq as the nation moves away from the coalition arrangement to bilateral agreements with other countries.
Bid At Hokuma Tibi barbanaj Hekumi.
My government started a government run program that was proposed to Parliament and put to a vote after the Ministerial Cabinet presented it. This was according to the constitutional measures. Part of the ministerial program was ending the coalition's mission after the justifications for its presence had ended. Today, Iraq twenty twenty four is not the same as Iraq of
twenty fourteen. We have defeated dysh with our sacrifices in the Iraqi people's position from all of its components and factions, and with the support of the international community and friends. And we do appreciate that we found that the justifications ended and there is no longer a need for a coalition of eighty six countries. We moved from a period of wars to a period of stability. Dyesh doesn't pose a threat to the state. It may be part of
the security challenges like drug trade and criminal offenses. It's at that level. It's not equal to Dayish now a group of terrified people hiding in caves in the desert, in the mountains, and the real threat to security and stability. Based on this vision and evaluation, we initiated a conversation with our friends in the Internet National Coalition, and it was honest and included more discussions on various levels, and was culminated with my visit to Washington, d c. And
talking to President Biden. We formed the Joint Committee in August of twenty twenty three between military commanders to start the conversation, and in fact, the committee reached an understanding
to arrange for that withdrawal. It was hoped that the conclusion would be announced, but out of our keenness not to mix things or create a misunderstanding about the end of the coalition's mission, the desire was to postpone the announcement and we hope to announce it soon and we will take part in an international conference for the Coalition against dish or terrorism. And Iraq is a genuine member
that lead the ranks to face terrorism. Ending the coalition's mission and this is an important point, does not mean a breakdown between Iraq and the coalition countries including the United States. On the contrary, at the same time, we are in bilateral talks to build a sustainable security relationship other than the economic, cultural, and scientific and social ties.
You say that ISIS is less of a threat, and yet on Friday, since common ounts that a raid was conducted in western Iraq, US military alongside Iraqi security officials killed some senior ISIS commanders. That tells me that the ISIS threat is still there.
No, no, of course, this was one of the quality operations that was executed between security agencies and the international coalition. This is proof daesh or. This is proof that the security agencies have reached the phase of capability where they started finding these people in caves in mountains, in deserted areas and killed them. This is proof of the level of ability and capability that our security forces have reached. Dyash today doesn't own a land or an area to
be in and has lost its incubator. And this is the fundamental win achieved. Following up on the cells of these individuals doesn't mean that there is a real threat. When we used to talk about Dyash, Dyash used to hold areas, villages and cities, and today Dash doesn't have this existence except for these isolated groupings in deserted areas.
There's a US presidential election coming up very soon. What would you like to see out of the next US president, be it President Harris or President Trump.
Riki.
Of course, we respect the choice of the American people according to the democratic process. We will deal with any administration that gains confidence. It's of interest to us to activate strategic framework that was signed in two thousand and eight and building of relationship based on these principles of mutual interests and respecting Iraqi sovereignty.
President Trump has been historically very hawkish on Iran. Do you worry that a return of President Trump could be even more destabilizing for the region.
For our understanding of the situation of the relationship between Iraq and Iran is based on mutual interests and mutual respect. Iran is a neighboring country and we share one four hundred kilometers and that's in our interest to have a close relationship, especially that Iran has been supportive of the
political process and our efforts in combating terrorism. Of course, Iraq is the only country in the region that has a special relationship between Iran and the United States, and we try through this positive characteristic to help in bringing opinions closer. And we are interested to have stability in the region away from the access policy. We don't want the tense relationships and the stances of other countries of
the world to impact the Iraqi situation. This is our diplomatic effort and movements in terms of our bilateral and regional ties.
Now for more from my exclusive interview with Iraq's Prime Minister, Mohamashia al Sudani. The Prime Minister told me his country is fully committed to opek's decisions, despite not adhering to quote us during our conversation. He also discussed Iraq resuming oil exports via a pipeline to the Turkish port is Shayan more than a year after its closure.
Muhimaf ob Obuku plas.
Iraq is an important country in OPEK and OPEK Plus, and we coordinate with our brothers, especially our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We are committed to voluntary cuts and there war issues that the brothers understood in terms of the slight increase in production and the rock committed to compensating for that, and we began in August
of this year. We are committed to the decisions of OPEC and OPEC Plus in a way that protects the price of oil and this balance between the interest of the producers and consumers.
Almost you.
Say that you will start introducing compensations, Where is that going to come from?
But a helpful intelligent we started reducing the domestic production and reducing the exports in a clear way in the oil market.
Can you talk to me about the future of the pipeline from Kurdistan. It's been shut off for several months now. You've talked about the possibility of the resumption of gas going through that pipeline. Can you give us a timeline on it, and also again what that would do to your own role production. Given what we were just talking about. Via the vis vid Opek.
Quotas, Muskimas and Google Turkey.
Let's understand the problem with the Iraqi Turkish oil pipeline. The export stopped from Sahan after the decision from the International Court in Paris over a lawsuit filed by the
former Iraqi governments over exporting oil without somo's approval. And then we faced another problem, and that's a legal issue, and they were decisions by the Federal Court regarding oil contracts in Kurdistan Region and the budget law that fixed the average cost of producing a barrel that doesn't surpass eight dollars for every barrel, whereas fixed production cost in the oil contracts of oil companies with Kurdistan Region is over twenty six dollars. We are now in front enough
two options only. We either amend the contracts, which is what the company is dealing with the Kurdistan Region had rejected, or we amend the budget law and this requires political agreement. Iraq is keen to resolve this problem. We are missing the production capacity from this strategic important line and we are keen on investing in existing oil and the work
of the companies. There are ongoing talks with the companies and with brothers in the Kurdistan Region and we hope to reach a solution based on the legal paths that I mentioned.
Could it happen this year?
Possible? Possible.
That was my
Exclusive interview with the Iraqi Pane Ministermashya Al Sudani.