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Iraq struggles to maintain power balance

The Iraqi government is trying hard to reduce tensions in the country and maintain a power balance between regional and international forces in order to initiate its reform plan.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi speaks during a press conference in Basra on July 15, 2020, during his first visit to the southern Iraqi province. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / POOL / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In an attempt to remove Iraq from the conflict between Iran and its regional and international rivals, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has planned and is taking his first trip as a package to three countries: Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United States. This way, he wants to send a message to all rival powers that Iraq's sovereignty should be respected and regional and international powers should not bring their conflicts into Iraq.

Iraq has been a center field for conflict since 2003 between different regional and international powers, and it has turned into a direct battleground between the United States and Iran after the assassination of Iran's top Quds Force commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, earlier this year, followed by Iran's bombing of US forces at Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq's Anbar province.

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