It looks like Baghdad and Washington will try once again to settle their differences over the presence of US troops in Iraq. Both sides have agreed to resume talks in June to reframe their relationship.

“The resumption of the strategic dialogue with the US is an important matter that the new government will undertake,” Iraqi President Barham Salih told CNN on April 15. The new government he referred to is that of Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi, director of Iraq's National Intelligence Service, who is expected to submit his Cabinet nominations for approval this week. 

Salih said that “US-Iraqi relations need to be put in the right context.” His statement coincided with Kadhimi revealing April 15 his country's “readiness for a serious dialogue with the US on the nature of its presence in Iraq.”

Those remarks seem in line with those of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said during an April 7 news conference, "All strategic issues between our two countries will be on the agenda, including the future presence of the United States forces in that country, and how best to support an independent and sovereign Iraq."