On first foreign trip, Iraqi PM Zaidi woos Trump but Iran casts long shadow

Iraq’s new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, is due to meet with President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, marking his first official trip abroad in a concerted bid to recalibrate relations with the United States.

Zaidi, a former entrepreneur, is expected to announce a host of deals, many of them linked to energy, as part of a business-first agenda meant to diversify US-Iraqi ties beyond their primarily security-driven focus, administration sources speaking on background told Al-Monitor. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani was expected to be present for the announcement of one of the most substantial agreements — to restore and revive a pipeline running from the oil fields of Iraq’s Kirkuk province to the Syrian port of Baniyas. However, the sources confirmed to Al-Monitor that he had canceled the trip. They declined to elaborate.

Another Syrian official may participate in the signing of what the sources described as a declaration of intent rather than an actual contract for the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline. A consortium including Chevron, Capital TI and Qatar’s UCC won Iraqi approval last week to carry out a technical and feasibility study for the pipeline.

Zaidi arrived in Washington on Monday morning and is set to meet later this week with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials before traveling to Houston for meetings with energy sector executives, sources told Al-Monitor.