Top US official to visit Erbil, inaugurate new American consulate

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Michael Rigas will travel to Erbil and inaugurate the new Consulate General in the Kurdistan Region's capital, the Department of State announced on Tuesday. The visit is part of a Middle East tour beginning on Thursday.

"Rigas will travel to Türkiye, Iraq, and Israel November 27 to December 5, stopping in Istanbul, Baghdad, Erbil, and Jerusalem," said the Department in a statement, adding that the travel "underscores the United States’ commitment to advancing stability, security, religious freedom, and prosperity across the region."

During his stop in Iraq, Rigas will “meet with Iraqi officials, tour U.S. diplomatic facilities, and inaugurate the new Consulate General in Erbil," the statement added.

Believed to be one of the biggest US diplomatic facilities in the world, Washington’s new consulate compound in Erbil will enhance diplomatic cooperation with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraq, Tammy Bruce, the US State Department spokesperson, told Rudaw in March.

“The new and largest US consulate in Erbil is expected to open later this year,” she said during a press briefing at the time, adding that “it reflects the United States' commitment to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.”

Washington and Erbil enjoy close ties. The US has been a key supporter of the Kurdistan Region since it gained autonomy in the early 1990s, backing the development of capacities of the Kurdish Peshmerga, supporting ongoing reforms within the force, and leading the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS).

Rigas’ visit comes days before Joshua Harris, Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Iraq, held a meeting with Kurdish officials in Erbil.

Harris was received by Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Tuesday. The two discussed "the development of bilateral relations, the general situation in Iraq, the recent parliamentary elections, and the formation of the new Iraqi cabinet," according to a statement from Barzani’s office.

Addressing the disputes between Erbil and Baghdad, both sides stressed the need to "ensure the Kurdistan Region receives its financial entitlements and budget share within Iraq’s federal budget, and to continue oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through Türkiye’s Ceyhan Port," according to the statement.

Although oil exports have resumed since late September under a new agreement between Erbil, Baghdad and international oil firms operating in the Kurdish region, key disputes over financial entitlements and the payment of the Kurdistan Region’s civil servants remain unresolved. Civil servants in the Region have yet to receive their September, October and November salaries, even as their counterparts in other provinces under the federal government have been paid on time.

Following his meeting with Prime Minister Barzani, Harris met with KRG Acting Minister of Natural Resources Kamal Mohammed, discussing the recent developments of the Region's resumption of oil exports and issues surrounding the financial entitlements of the oil companies operating in the Region, according to a statement from the ministry.

The Region’s oil exports restarted on September 27. Exports had been halted since March 2023 after Iraq won a case at a Paris-based arbitration court against Turkey.

The Kurdish ministry cited Harris as emphasizing that the US wants "this tripartite agreement to continue and be a long-term one, and to resolve any obstacles, problems, and issues that the agreement may face," read the statement, stressing that the restart of oil exports is "a strategic and important matter for the U.S. administration."

The American diplomat also expressed support for investment in the Kurdistan Region, noted the ministry.

[Source: Rûdaw English]