Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan is visiting Iraq with a high-level US delegation this week to meet the country’s new president and the prime minister-designate in the first such visit since elections in May.
Why it matters: Sullivan, a seasoned bureaucrat, is getting to know Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Adel Abdul Mahdi and President Barham Salih for the first time while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is preoccupied with the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The visit is an opportunity to restructure the US relationship with Baghdad amid growing Iranian influence in the country.
