The call that US President Joe Biden made with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, on Wednesday, opened the door wide to speculation and analysis about the extent of the interest that the new US administration attaches to dealing with the situation in Iraq, especially since the contact is the first with an Arab leader.

During the past years in which former US President Donald Trump assumed responsibility in the White House, Iraq remained an arena for the US-Iranian conflict, and observers believe that the previous administration did not deal with Iraq as a separate country from the conflict with Iran, but rather it deliberately dealt with Iraq several times through party leaders or The components and sects, which clearly affected the pattern of the usual relations between the two countries and may weaken the American role in Iraq to its lowest degree.

New strategy

Bilal Wahhab, a researcher at the Washington Institute for Strategic Policy in this regard, says that there is talk in the decision-making circles of the new US administration about formulating a new strategy in the Middle East region and in Iraq specifically, and the focus is on separating Iraq from the US strategy of dealing with Iran on the one hand and with the organization The Islamic State on the other hand, as the previous administration was placing Iraq between two contradictory strategies regarding ISIS and Iran.

And Wahab added, in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net by phone, that the Biden administration is trying, through its new strategy, to leave the unilateral decision adopted by the Trump administration and move towards cooperation with allies.

The phone call took place between Biden and Al-Kazemi, following a missile attack on the Green Zone, which includes government headquarters and foreign embassies, most notably the US embassy.

Rocket attacks have been escalating at a steady pace for months on the Green Zone, and it is widely believed that groups allied with Iran are behind these attacks, despite statements of condemnation and denunciation that most political forces have quickly issued, even those that some parties accuse of being behind the attacks.

Deep connotations

A member of the government team, Dr. Hussein Allawi, said in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the communication carries deep indications of the inauguration of a new phase of relations between the two countries, based on respect and the interests of both parties.

He added that the two parties agreed during the call on 3 basic points, which are the necessity of enforcing the law on "Katyusha cells", and supporting the return of the dialogue paving the way for the conclusion of a strategic agreement between the two countries, and finally an American pledge to support the Iraqi economy through the International Contact Group in cooperation with the World Bank.

Iraq had conducted two previous rounds of strategic dialogue with the United States with the aim of redrawing the relationship, through the conclusion of a new strategic agreement, which government officials say that those two rounds resulted in the redeployment of US forces present in bases on Iraqi lands from 5200 last September to 2,700 by this year.

Al-Sahhaf confirmed Iraq's keenness to continue the dialogue with America that paves the way for a new framework agreement between the two countries (Iraqi Press)

Strategic dialogue

For his part, the spokesman for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, Dr. Ahmed Al-Sahaf, affirmed Iraq's keenness to continue the dialogue paving the way for a new framework agreement between the two countries.

He told Al-Jazeera Net that the State Department had previously conducted two rounds of dialogue with the United States, presiding over the first round by remote communication, former Undersecretary of the Ministry Abdul Karim Hashem Mustafa, and the second round was opened by the current Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein following his visit to the United States, and then completed by Al-Kazemi during his visit to Washington in August Last August.

Al-Sahaf added, "The strategic dialogue continues because the partnership continues based on the interests of the Iraqi state."

He added that the Minister had previously said that we will ask the American side to name its new negotiating team under the Biden administration to resume the strategic dialogue, which was not previously limited to the security aspect only, but also included and will later include all indicators of common interests between the two sides in different and multiple sectors.

There is an impression in Iraqi circles that it is necessary to establish a state of balance in diplomatic relations with countries that influence regional and international decisions, in order to get out of the state of the Iranian-American conflict.

Most of the political forces are exerting pressure on the powers that have armed wings to stop their attacks on diplomatic missions, especially the US embassy, ​​in order to restore relations with the United States with Iraq to their previous state, and they also see that the presence of Democrats at the head of the US administration allows them to do so.

US President Biden's call @JoeBiden with President Al-Kazemi @MAKadhimi is an indication of the democrats ’policy towards Iraq and their evaluation of Al-Kazemi’s policies, and contacting Al-Kazemi before all Arab presidents confirms that Iraq remains at the top of America's priorities in the era of President Biden ...

Qusay Mahbouba (@last_knights_iq) February 24, 2021

"Biden’s contact with Kazemi is an indication of the democrats’ policy toward Iraq and their evaluation of Al-Kazemi’s policies, and contacting Al-Kazemi before all Arab presidents confirms that Iraq remains at the top of America's priorities during the Biden era, "the Iraqi strategic expert, Qusay Mahbouba, wrote on his Twitter page.

In the wake of the recent missile attack on the Green Zone, the Joint Operations Command stated that "the Iraqi forces will deal with the launchers of missiles as they deal with ISIS terrorism (ISIS)," indicating that dealing with this file has shifted in a more serious direction than it was previously.