Overview
- Marco Rubio told Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani that a government controlled by Iran cannot put Iraq’s interests first or sustain a strong U.S.-Iraq partnership.
- The State Department said Rubio reaffirmed Washington’s goal for Iraq to realize its potential as a stabilizing force in the Middle East.
- U.S. officials confirmed the transfer operation from north-east Syria, with the first 150 detainees moved from Hasakah to Iraq and a military plan that could reach up to 7,000 people.
- Iraqi officials say prosecutions will follow and detainees are slated for Nasiriyah Prison in Dhi Qar and a Nasiriyah facility near Baghdad airport, with smaller numbers in Sulaymaniyah, including thousands of foreign nationals.
- The Co-ordination Framework has nominated former prime minister Nouri Al Maliki to lead the next government as the U.S. deploys the USS Abraham Lincoln and additional air defenses under President Donald Trump’s directive.