John Kerry’s Unexpected Trip to Iraq

John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, arrived in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, on Friday, April 8 (20 Farvardin) in an unannounced visit.

According to CNN, Mr. Kerry is expected to meet and discuss with Haider al-Abadi, Iraq’s Prime Minister, regarding the war against the group known as the Islamic State (ISIS) during this visit.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said that Mr. Kerry’s visit aims to emphasize American support for the Iraqi government.

According to the U.S. State Department spokesman, Mr. Kerry will also meet and discuss with Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq’s Foreign Minister, and Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, during this visit.

This is Mr. Kerry’s first trip to Iraq since September 2014.

Before traveling to Iraq, Mr. Kerry visited Bahrain, where he discussed conflicts in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen with the foreign ministers of Persian Gulf countries.

During this visit, Mr. Kerry asked Iran to help bring an end to the wars in Yemen and Syria.

Source: BBC Persian