Iraq's new Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein held his first official meeting since taking office with the US ambassador in the country, Matthew Tueller, on Monday, with both parties expressing their desire to see an improvement in bilateral relations, according to a statement published by Iraq's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th June, 2020) Iraq's new Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein held his first official meeting since taking office with the US ambassador in the country, Matthew Tueller, on Monday, with both parties expressing their desire to see an improvement in bilateral relations, according to a statement published by Iraq's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"At the beginning of the meeting, the US Ambassador congratulated the Minister on assuming his position as Foreign Minister of the Republic of Iraq and expressed his looking forward to witnessing a qualitative improvement in the bilateral relations between the two countries," the statement read.
In turn, Hussein told the ambassador that preparations were underway ahead of planned high-level talks between Iraqi and US officials.
"The Minister expressed the Foreign Ministry's commencement in completing preparations for the strategic dialogue round with US considering that it represents an important phase that would frame the priorities of Baghdad and Washington," the statement read.
The new foreign minister, whose appointment was approved by parliament on Sunday, also stated that work must be done to develop various areas of bilateral relations between Baghdad and Washington.
In April, spokesman for the Iraqi armed forces' commander-in-chief Abdul Karim Khalaf said that leading officials from Washington and Baghdad would meet in June to discuss plans for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraqi territory.
Тhe Iraqi parliament on January 5 approved a resolution that demanded the immediate and complete withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq after a US drone attack near Baghdad International Airport killed Iran's Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of an Iraqi Shia militia group. The parliament concluded that this action violated Iraq's sovereignty.
