Iraq’s Kurdish Region: A Stronghold Against Iranian Infiltration
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The president and vice president have both declined face-to-face meetings this week with Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of Iraq’s Kurdish region. Barzani, a staunch U.S. ally, has played a crucial role in preventing Iranian efforts to infiltrate Iraq, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Barzani is currently in Washington, D.C., for a series of high-level meetings with U.S. officials. This visit comes at a time when Iranian terrorist proxies are wreaking havoc in Iraq, launching attacks on American positions. The Kurdish region of Iraq, which operates semi-autonomously, has remained a steadfast ally of the United States, actively countering Iran’s growing influence in the country.
A meeting with either President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris would have sent a strong message of support to the Kurds, who are facing financial difficulties due to the Baghdad government’s decision to cut off their oil revenues. As Baghdad grows closer to Iran, the loss of oil sales revenue is threatening stability in the Kurdistan region.
Sources, including former U.S. officials, expressed concern that neither Biden nor Harris made time to meet with Barzani, especially as Iran continues to fund attacks on American forces and wage a multi-pronged war against Israel in the region.
While it is expected that Barzani will meet with U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Kurdish representatives have been lobbying for a face-to-face meeting with Biden or Harris. The White House has already committed to hosting a meeting between Biden and Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, further highlighting tensions between Iraq’s ruling parties.
Kurdish officials have emphasized to the White House that a high-profile meeting would send a significant signal at a time when U.S. forces are under attack by Iran-backed militias in Iraq, and Tehran is positioning itself as a key ally of the Baghdad government.
Earlier in the week, Barzani met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who urged him to work more closely with Iraq’s government to ease tensions. The U.S. National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment on the situation.
“The White House refuses to meet with U.S. friends and partners from Kurdistan but happily invites an Iraqi prime minister to the Oval Office after he was appointed by Iran-backed terrorists and did not stop 180 attacks against our forces,” said Michael Knights, a regional expert with the Washington Institute think tank. “It looks to many as if the United States cannot tell friends from enemies, nor up from down, in the Middle East.”
Republican foreign policy leaders have repeatedly warned that Iraq is “on the verge of being lost to Iran” as the Islamic Republic arms militant factions across the country and works to isolate Barzani and the pro-U.S. Kurdish population.
One former U.S. official described the White House’s stance on a Barzani meeting as equivalent to “Iranian appeasement.”
“It is quite telling that the White House refuses to meet with the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq—America’s most loyal and steadfast partner who has fought with America for over 30 years, including in the defeat of ISIS, and the only part of Iraq that has U.S. government financing for energy projects,” said the source, who would speak only on background. “This is Iranian appeasement at the White House.”
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