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What’s behind Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit?

The US is seeking stronger ties with India, which it sees as a vital ally in efforts to contain China’s rise.

The administration of United States President Joe Biden is scheduled to host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an official visit later this week, as the two countries strengthen their ties amid shared antipathy towards China’s growing influence.

The White House will hold a state dinner in Modi’s honour on June 22, a sign of the burgeoning relationship between the two powers who have stepped up cooperation in areas such as trade and arms sales.

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In a press release, the Biden administration said that a recent trip to New Delhi by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan “underscored the dynamism of the US-India partnership in advance of Prime Minister Modi’s historic official state visit next week to the United States”.

But human rights groups say the celebratory dinner is a de facto endorsement of India’s far-right turn under Modi’s leadership — and undermines the Biden administration’s stated goal of emphasising human rights and democracy in its foreign policy.

During Modi’s tenure, India’s Muslims and other minorities have experienced an uptick in violence and repression as the government leans into a form of Hindu nationalism known as Hindutva . Modi has also been criticised for seeking to consolidate power and crack down on dissent.

“A state dinner is a special occasion; it’s not something that just any foreign leader receives,” Edward Mitchell, the deputy executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told Al Jazeera over a phone call.

“How can the White House honour a leader who is an open anti-Muslim bigot, a right-wing ideologue who censors journalists and turns a blind eye to lynchings? You can work with India and Modi without taking this extra step to celebrate him.”

Confronting China

While advocacy groups have called for greater scrutiny of India’s human rights record , foreign policy experts say the Biden administration is primarily interested in the country as a potential counterweight to China, which the US sees as its most formidable global competitor.

Sarang Shidore, Director of Studies and Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute, a US-based think tank, told Al Jazeera that he believes the US-India relationship will continue to grow as long as their shared concern over China remains in place.

“The United States does not conduct its foreign policy based on democracy and human rights. It conducts its foreign policy based on its interests, as all states do,” Shidore said.

China’s growing military power and assertive territorial claims have become a source of concern for nearby Asian countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan and India. The US has worked to fashion alliances with many of those countries in an attempt to contain China’s expanding influence.

“No question, there is increased Chinese nationalism,” said Shidore. “And China sees India as an increasing challenge due to its relationship with the US.”

Expanding ties

That was not always the case. During the Cold War, India’s relations with the US were often frosty. The country had cultivated close ties with the USSR and helped spearhead the Non-Aligned Movement, an organisation of countries that rejected pressures to join either pro-US or pro-Soviet blocs.

For its part, the US was a key ally of Pakistan. And by the early 1970s, the administration of US President Richard Nixon started to build a cooperative relationship with China, as an attempt, in part, to place pressure on the USSR.

But as the Cold War ended and China’s economic rise became a preoccupation of US foreign policy, India — with its size and economic heft — started to be seen as a key regional ally.

Despite its improved ties with the US, however, India has continued to resist what it sees as a false choice between the US and countries like President Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

But as Russia wages war in Ukraine and Washington seeks to isolate Moscow economically and diplomatically, that balancing act has become more difficult for India to maintain.

While India has increased its purchase of weapons from countries such as France and the US and recently agreed on a roadmap to increase cooperation with the US defence industry, it remains the world’s largest importer of Russian arms.

India has also joined China in buying up Russian oil at discounted prices, while the US and the European Union angle to limit Russia’s power in the global energy market.

But Shidore said that India’s status as a central player in Washington’s Asia strategy gives it significant leverage . Its ties to Russia are not likely to get in the way of its relationship with the US, he explained.

“India has played this quite well, playing Russia and the US off each other, and has benefitted in the process,” he said. “A country like India, which has such a strong convergence with the US on China, can create major spaces where it will differ very strongly from the US and can ride that out.”

Consolidating control

While US relations with allies such as Saudi Arabia and Israel have come under political scrutiny in recent years, Modi’s trip to the US has been welcomed with bipartisan support. An a joint letter inviting Modi to address Congress during his visit, members of the US House of Representatives and Senate have hailed the visit as a sign of the “enduring friendship” between the two countries.

“During your address, you will have the opportunity to share your vision for India’s future and speak to the global challenges our countries both face,” the letter reads.

However, Modi’s human rights record has not gone entirely unremarked. On Tuesday, a group of more than 70 lawmakers from the US House and Senate penned a letter to the Biden urging him to discuss concerns about religious freedom and journalistic expression in his talks with Modi.

The Muslim rights group CAIR, meanwhile, has issued a statement calling on the White House to drop its plans for a state dinner.

Modi’s high-profile reception in the US is a far cry from what he experienced before he was first elected prime minister in 2014. Prior to becoming India’s leader, Modi had been banned from entering the US due to allegations that he turned a blind eye to anti-Muslim violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, when he was the province’s chief minister.

The deadly 2002 riots were the subject of a BBC documentary that Modi tried to ban in January, invoking his emergency powers as prime minister. The rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch screened the documentary in Washington on Tuesday.

Human rights groups say the move to ban the film was representative of a larger effort under Modi to stifle dissent and exercise control over independent institutions. They also accuse his government of pursuing an agenda influenced by far-right Hindu nationalism.

In an annual report on religious freedom in May, the US State Department expressed concern about the situation in India, noting that there were “open calls for genocide against Muslims”, lynchings and “attacks on places of worship”.

In May, for the fourth year in a row, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom called on the State Department to designate India as a “country of particular concern”.

In some states controlled by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), politicians who lean into violent anti-Muslim rhetoric face little reprimand. Some Hindu nationalist paramilitaries have also waged a campaign against interfaith marriages , which they portray as an effort to dilute the Hindu population and win converts to Islam through “love jihad”.

Shidore, however, said that Modi’s human rights record has been quickly “papered over” and is unlikely to prevent cooperation with the US, so long as China remains a serious global competitor.

“The United States”, he said, “has set human rights issues aside in order to strengthen ties”.

Fumio Kishida Travels to the United States as Prime Minister of a More Assertive Japan

E mbattled Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida travels to the White House on Friday for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden that promises to deepen the two nations’ security alliance amid rising tensions with China and North Korea.

It will be Kishida’s first meeting with Biden since December’s announcement of Japan’s biggest military build-up since World War II, and it follows whistlestop visits by Kishida to Britain, France, Italy, and Canada—industrial powers that Japan will host at a G7 summit in Hiroshima in May.

On Friday, Kishida and Biden are expected to discuss Japan’s plans to acquire missiles able to strike targets across East Asia, efforts to limit China’s access to advanced technology like semiconductors, and strategies to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the two leaders will also agree to new cooperation on thwarting potential threats from space, reconfiguring U.S. troop deployments on Japan’s island of Okinawa, and developing uninhabited islands for joint military drills.

“The big message here is the strength of the U.S.-Japan alliance,” says Jeffery Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University in Japan. Kishida, he says, “has basically pushed through a major transformation in Japan’s security policy.”

The trip is also seen as key to restoring domestic credibility for Kishida, who took office in 2021, following a slew of scandals—over resignations by senior colleagues and his Liberal Democratic Party’s ties to the cult-like Unification Church —which have seen his cabinet’s approval rating plummet from 53% in June to 25% in December .

Japan’s new military posture

In December, Japan revised three key defense policy documents, including the National Security Strategy, drastically boosting its military spending while acquiring capabilities to preemptively strike enemy bases in a major departure from its pacifist constitution.

Japan’s draft budget for next year includes $1.58 billion for U.S.-made long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles amid a stated aim to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2027 —a figure in line with NATO targets. Although Japan is not a NATO member, Kishida attended a summit of the military alliance in June as an observer and considers the country a stakeholder in the Ukraine conflict given its disputed maritime border with Russia.

The shifting military posture also comes as Beijing ramps up military exercises near neighboring Taiwan and as North Korea launched a record number of missile tests last year (many of which passed over Japan). Last month, Kishida agreed to develop a new fighter jet with the U.K. and Italy , and he signed a deal with the former that will allow visits by each other’s armed forces.

These moves all align with the Biden administration’s call for Japan to play a bolder role in regional security.

“The United States needs the Indo-Pacific region to be prosperous and secure in order for the United States itself to be prosperous and secure,” a senior State Department official tells TIME.

Focus on Taiwan

Beijing’s military assertiveness around self-ruling Taiwan—which China claims as its sovereign territory—has unsettled Japan and the U.S., not least since China and Moscow held joint military drills in the East China Sea just last month.

In a joint statement, Washington and Tokyo said China presents an “unprecedented” threat to the international order. “China’s foreign policy seeks to reshape the international order to its benefit and to employ China’s growing political, economic, military, and technological power to that end,” it said.

Beijing launched unprecedented military drills encircling Taiwan—some less than 10 miles from its coast—in August following a visit by then U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In an ominous sign, new Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said he plans to follow suit , which would no doubt prompt a similar furious reaction from Beijing.

Biden will also hope to persuade Kishida to limit cooperation with China on new technology-driven industries such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and, particularly, semiconductor chips . Although Kishida has said he backs Biden’s export restrictions on semiconductors to China imposed in October, he has not yet agreed to match the curbs given the potential for economic retribution from China, Japan’s largest trade partner.

Setting the scene for the G7

It’s no coincidence that Kishida’s weeklong tour focuses on nations belonging to the G7, for which he will host a summit in his home city of Hiroshima in May. Since Japan’s defeat in World War II, its constitution has enshrined the principle that it will not wage war. Yet Kishida will hope to use the optics of the formerly nuclear-ravaged city—where an estimated 70,000-140,000 people died after the atomic bombing of Aug. 6, 1945—to press home the magnitude of new threats on its borders.

Not only has Russian President Vladimir Putin openly threatened nuclear war against the U.S. and its allies, but experts believe North Korea is rapidly preparing for a seventh nuclear test. “Politically, the symbolism is very important,” says Kingston.

The G7 will also be important to secure Kishida’s political future. An impending $7 billion tax hike to pay for the military expansion means there’s been no shortage of criticism. Kishida, says Airo Hino, a professor of political science at Tokyo’s Waseda University, “ would like to balance that out by making diplomatic progress with other leaders at the G7 summit.” Hino says that an expected popularity boost following the summit may even prompt Kishida to call a snap election to assert his mandate.

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U.S. Officials Are Streaming to China. Will Beijing Return the Favor?

Such visits could help convey Beijing’s interest in stabilizing ties with Washington. But China has been noncommittal.

By David Pierson ,  Keith Bradsher and Olivia Wang

When Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce, left China this week, it marked the end of a three-month diplomatic blitz by the Biden administration to try to stabilize ties with Beijing and arrest a free fall in the relationship that had raised concerns about the risk of conflict.

President Biden had bet that high-level dialogue could help manage an escalating rivalry over trade, technology and the status of Taiwan. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken was the first to make the trip to the Chinese capital in June, followed by Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and the presidential climate envoy, John Kerry , in July.

After logging all those miles, the question now is whether China will reciprocate by sending senior Chinese ministers to Washington. The United States has publicly invited China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, but he has yet to accept. The last senior Chinese official to travel to Washington was China’s commerce minister, Wang Wentao, who visited in late May.

China has much to gain from dispatching officials to the United States. It would signal to the world it was making an effort to ease tensions with Washington, particularly at a time when China needs to bolster confidence in its shaky economy. A visit could also help lay the groundwork for a potential, highly anticipated meeting between President Biden and China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, at a forum in San Francisco in November.

Beijing, however, has been noncommittal. Its approach could reflect internal disarray following the unexplained, abrupt dismissal of its former foreign minister, Qin Gang, in July. Or it could be a hardball tactic aimed at conveying Mr. Xi’s displeasure over what he regards as an effort by the United States to contain China’s rise.

It could also suggest that Beijing sees no upside in traveling for talks, given how unlikely it is that the Biden administration will ease up on its tough policies.

“Visits to the U.S. carry political risk, particularly if they do not produce the results that China seeks,” said Danny Russel, a vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former U.S. assistant secretary of state.

Those risks include exposing envoys to criticism and protests. China places great importance on the optics of its official visits overseas. Since lifting “zero Covid” last year, Mr. Xi has traveled only to countries where he has been assured a friendly welcome like Saudi Arabia, Russia, and most recently, South Africa for the summit of the BRICS group of emerging nations.

Mr. Xi emerged from the meeting in Johannesburg seemingly triumphant, having succeeded in persuading the four other members — Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa — to expand the grouping. That decision allowed Mr. Xi to burnish his image back home as a global statesman despite China’s weakened standing with the West over its support for Russia.

He Lifeng, a vice premier overseeing economic policy, meanwhile, went to Pakistan in July. Mr. Wang, the foreign minister, traveled to Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore in addition to Johannesburg in August.

The foreign ministry has said only that China and the United States were “in touch” about exchanges. Mr. Wang was invited a month ago to visit Washington, a trip that has been seen as crucial for the planning of a possible visit by Mr. Xi to San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, and a meeting with Mr. Biden.

China may not intend to schedule any U.S. visits. Holding meetings exclusively in Beijing could give Mr. Xi’s government more control over the talks, to push back against the United States on issues like trade and investment restrictions.

“Making the ‘barbarians’ come to Beijing as supplicants is a tried and true Chinese power play tactic,” Mr. Russel said.

That matters to the Chinese because the Biden administration, which has described China as “America’s most consequential geopolitical challenge,” has remained unrelenting on the issues that frustrate the Chinese leadership the most.

Topping that list is Washington’s continued support for Taiwan, a self-governed island claimed by Beijing. China perceives exchanges between U.S. and Taiwanese officials, arms sales and joint statements with allies about preserving peace in Taiwan as tantamount to supporting the island’s independence.

Additionally, China wants Washington to lift restrictions on access to advanced U.S. chip technology, and to stop deepening security ties with allies around Asia — moves Mr. Xi has said amounts to “all-around containment, encirclement and suppression of China.”

China has also denounced a summit Mr. Biden held at Camp David with the leaders of Japan and South Korea to boost security cooperation, calling it “a deliberate attempt to sow discord between China and our neighbors.”

“The Camp David meeting of the three leaders is having a very negative impact on China’s perception of the three powers,” said Zheng Yongnian, an influential political scientist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. “It is seen as dividing Asia, and leading Asia into another Cold War.”

Beijing could also be withholding visits to the U.S. to express its unhappiness over the reported barring of Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed chief executive, John Lee, from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. China’s Foreign Ministry demanded that Mr. Lee be invited, and that the United States lift sanctions it imposed on him for implementing a national security law that drastically limited freedoms in the city.

“The U.S. wants President Xi to attend APEC, but then they take such an action with the Hong Kong chief executive,” said Wu Xinbo, dean of international studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. “The policy is contradictory.”

China’s biggest qualm about holding talks with the United States in recent months was that engagement would amount to nothing if it was not backed by action. In his meetings with Ms. Raimondo on Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang called on the United States to “meet China halfway” and “take more practical and beneficial actions.”

Ms. Raimondo used her meeting to assure Beijing that the United States did not want to sever trade ties, and also to share concerns by American businesses that China was becoming “uninvestable” because the environment seemed fraught with risks. She cited government raids on businesses, a new counterespionage law and the imposing of exorbitant fines without explanation.

Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador in Beijing, said in an interview on Wednesday that the visits to China by U.S. officials enabled Washington to deliver “direct and often tough messages to senior Chinese leaders on issues critical to our national security.”

The access to senior leadership was a far cry from earlier in the year when a Chinese surveillance balloon episode set off a tense diplomatic impasse.

Still, the two sides remain far apart on issues like military-to-military communication, which have been frozen by Beijing since Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the House of Representatives, visited Taiwan last August.

“U.S. efforts shouldn’t be measured by how many reciprocal visits China makes, but rather whether or not its engagements with Beijing communicate hard truths to Beijing while also attempting to find paths to avoiding conflict,” said Jude Blanchette, who holds the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“If Xi and his deputies only feel comfortable discussing these matters within the confines of Communist Party property,” he added, “then that says more about them than it does the White House.”

David Pierson covers Chinese foreign policy and China’s economic and cultural engagement with the world. More about David Pierson

Keith Bradsher is the Beijing bureau chief for The Times. He previously served as bureau chief in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Detroit and as a Washington correspondent. He has lived and reported in mainland China through the pandemic. More about Keith Bradsher

Olivia Wang covers news in mainland China and Hong Kong for The New York Times. She joined The Times in 2022. She has a master’s degree in journalism and bachelor’s degree in social sciences from the University of Hong Kong. More about Olivia Wang

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani makes quick visit to Metro Detroit

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani was in Metro Detroit on Thursday evening for a quick visit, where he planned a trip to a Dearborn Heights mosque and a West Bloomfield country club to meet with local members of the Iraqi diaspora, Wayne County officials said.

The Iraqi leader's visit was not publicly announced or open the media to cover, but local leaders said it underscored the influence of Metro Detroit's Middle Eastern community.

People of Iraqi descent are just one segment of the Mideast and North African (MENA) diaspora that reside in southeast Michigan. It's estimated nearly 140,000 people of MENA descent live in Wayne County alone, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

"His visit is particularly significant because Wayne County is home to a vibrant Iraqi-American community," said Wayne County Executive Warren Evans who met with al-Sudani. "Tens of thousands of Iraqi-Americans have established themselves here, contributing to the thriving local culture and embodying the spirit of the American Dream."

Assad Turfe, the deputy county executive also met with the prime minister. The county has a "very thriving Iraqi community that has done very well since the first group of Iraqis began to emigrate here in the early '90s after the Gulf War," he said. Statewide, the latest U.S. Census estimate is 90,000 Michigan residents are of Iraqi descent.

After the visit, Turfe said al-Sudani's visit "underscores the significant contributions of our vibrant Iraqi-American community to our cultural landscape and reaffirms our collective commitment to inclusivity.”

In addition to Evans and Turfe, Wayne County Commissioner Sam Baydoun; state Rep. Alabas Farhat, a Democrat who represents most of Dearborn, Melvindale and parts of Detroit; and Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab-American News, were invited. The Iraqi leader was to leave Michigan around midnight, according to Wayne County officials.

The prime minister planned a visit the Islamic Institute of America mosque in Dearborn Heights and later the Shenandoah Country Club in West Bloomfield, said Siblani. The Dearborn Heights mosque is run by an imam of Iraqi descent and the country club visit is intended to reach out to the local Chaldean community, Siblani said. Chaldeans are Eastern Rite Catholics and many are of Iraqi descent.

More: At last, a count of Michigan's Middle Eastern population. But experts warn it may be low

Ahead of al-Sudani's visit, former state Rep. Klint Kesto, a Republican from Commerce Township, said it was important for him to to attend the gathering to hear what the Iraqi leader "has in terms of the future of the country as well as the Chaldeans and Christians that are still there" amid the "war and bloodshed, chaos and instability" in the region.

Kesto, the first Chaldean American elected to the Michigan Legislature, said al-Sudani's visit to the region signals acknowledgment of the state's large population of Chaldean Christians and their contribution to the state's economy.

"There's tremendous impact from the Chaldean community, specifically in southeast Michigan," Kesto said. "Their ability to be entrepreneurs, capitalists, working as great partners — that should be the acknowledgment of the Iraqi prime minister, especially coming here and seeing what the Chaldean community has done in the region."

The Chaldean community in Michigan reportedly contributes more than $18 billion annually to state's economy, according to Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce. Several community members are involved in economic development, retail, property management and development, and owns independent grocers and several hotels across the region, said Martin Manna, the Chaldean chamber's president and CEO.

Manna, who helped organize al-Sudani's visit to the state, said he's met with the prime minister before on issues related to the remaining Chaldeans living in Iraq and explored business opportunities to support the county's economic infrastructure and development. Other issues raised included disputed territories, land confiscation and demographic shifts, Manna said.

"Recently, the federal courts issued a federal ban on the consumption, distribution and manufacturing of alcohol, which disproportionately impacts the minorities, specifically the Christian population," Manna said, referring to Iraq's reinforcement of a 2016 ban on alcoholic beverages.

According to a Reuters report in March 2023 , imported alcoholic beverages are prohibited and are barred from being sold in local markets, or replaced by domestically manufactured versions.

"We've been advocating for a repeal of that law to support these minority small business people," said Manna, who added that a small business round-table discussion on potential investments in Iraq will take place Thursday, after the prime minister's address.

"It's paramount that we work on long-term sustainability for the community," Manna said.

The prime minister arrived in Michigan from Washington after meeting with President Joe Biden and other White House officials.

Biden's remarks referred to the security of Israel and relationships between the U.S. and Iraqi amid tensions in the Middle East.

"The United States is committed to Israel’s security. We’re committed to a ceasefire that will bring the hostages home," Biden said, according to a press pool report. "We’re also committed to the security of our personnel and our allies, including Iraq.

"Our relationship between Iraq and the United States is critical," the president added. He added that "… over the last decade" U.S. troops have fought "side-by-side in the fight to defeat ISIS."

Last September, Evans and Turfe  traveled to Lebanon .

"It was one of the most remarkable and fulfilling trips I have ever taken," Evans said recently. They were joined by members of the local Lebanese community, mainly from Dearborn. The contingent meet with top political leaders. Evans and others said the trip, which was a personal trip and privately funded, was primarily for cultural understanding.

In recent months, Dearborn has become a center of Democratic backlash to Biden’s support of Israel in the war in Gaza that began after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Biden has dispatched senior officials from his campaign and administration to the Dearborn area to discuss the backlash.

Evans previously has said he supported the symbolic call for a cease-fire of Israel-Hamas war that was approved by the Wayne County Commission in December.

In an interview last month with The Detroit News , Evans said he voted "uncommitted" during the recent primary in a move by Democratic voters to voice their opposition to Biden’s support of Israel.

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Statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on the Visit of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’a Al-Sudani of Iraq to the White   House

On April 15, President Joe Biden will welcome Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’a Al-Sudani of Iraq to the White House to coordinate on common priorities and reinforce the strong bilateral partnership between the United States and Iraq.  The leaders will reaffirm their commitment to the Strategic Framework Agreement and deepen their shared vision for a secure, sovereign, and prosperous Iraq fully integrated into the broader region.  President Biden and Prime Minister Sudani will consult on a range of issues during the visit, including our shared commitment to the lasting defeat of ISIS and evolution of the military mission nearly ten years after forming the successful Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. They will also discuss ongoing Iraqi financial reforms to promote economic development and progress towards Iraq’s energy independence and modernization.

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Special Briefing: Iraqi prime minister’s visit to Washington amidst regional escalations

Randa Slim , Robert S. Ford , Brian Katulis , Joseph L. Votel , Winthrop Rodgers , Yesar Al-Maleki

Iranian weekend strikes threaten to derail Sudani’s Washington agenda

What the us wants out of talks with the iraqi prime minister, america needs as many middle east partners as it can get at a time of conflict and geopolitical uncertainty, us cooperation with the iraqi cts is a strategic hedge against violent extremist organizations in the middle east, despite growing baghdad-erbil tensions, kurdish interests unlikely to be a key focus in washington talks, washington wants to see progress on resuming kurdistan oil exports, diversifying iraq’s energy imports away from iran.

Randa Slim Senior Fellow and Director of Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s principal objective for his Washington visit was supposed to be to expand bilateral discussions beyond the military and security realms to particularly encompass issues such as education, finance, agriculture, economics, technology, and culture.

But Iran’s launching of hundreds of drones and missiles against Israel last weekend brought to the fore two of the most complicated issues in the US-Iraqi bilateral relationship: the status of the US military presence and Baghdad’s ability to rein in local Iran-aligned militias.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s long-awaited visit to Washington, DC, on April 15-19, started with a bang. Shortly prior to his arrival to the US capital, Iran and its proxies operating in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen launched a retaliatory strike targeting Israeli military facilities.

The Iraqi head of government’s principal objective for his Washington visit was supposed to be to expand bilateral discussions beyond the military and security realms to particularly encompass issues such as education, finance, agriculture, economics, technology, and culture, as indicated in the 2008 Strategic Framework Agreement between the two countries. That feat had eluded Prime Minister Sudani’s predecessors to date, as bilateral relations have remained driven by hard security issues. And the Iranian strike will now put defense and counter-terrorism matters even more front and center, especially in his meetings with US legislators and the media.

Iran’s launching of hundreds of drones and missiles against Israel last weekend brought to the fore two of the most complicated issues in the US-Iraqi bilateral relationship, which Sudani had wanted to de-emphasize during his visit. The first issue involves the US military presence in Iraq and the timeline for its withdrawal. The second concerns the Iran-aligned non-state armed groups that operate under the rubric of the “Iraqi Islamic Resistance.” Even prior to the recent Iranian attack, those two issues had major domestic implications for both the US president and the Iraqi prime minister. But Saturday’s drone and missile strike and its potential escalatory aftermath raises the stakes even higher for both leaders.

Prime Minister Sudani and some other members of the governing Coordination Framework in Baghdad do not want to see a hasty and forced withdrawal of US forces that could endanger the future of the bilateral relationship. But the fact that a US-manned Patriot air-defense system based near Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, was used to shoot down an Iranian ballistic missile headed toward Israel might have hastened the need for a US-Iraqi agreement on a withdrawal timetable. Iran, directly and through pro-Iran Iraqi militias, can be expected to increase its pressure on the Iraqi government to get these air-defense systems removed. And as a result, the militias might renew their targeting of US assets in Iraq and Syria.

The Coordination Framework issued a statement on April 15 expressing full support for the prime minister’s visit to Washington and endorsed his objectives to achieve progress in the bilateral relationship while noting that a sustainable relationship can be established “after the end of the international coalition’s mission, [and] the preparation for scheduling a withdrawal” of these forces. Interestingly, there was no mention of the Iranian attack on Israel; instead, the statement pointed to “an Iraqi role in stopping the aggression against Gaza and preventing the conflict from expanding in the Middle East region.” Given the circumstances, this is as firm an expression of support as Sudani could have hoped for from the governing coalition.

On the US side, the increasing risks of a dragged-out confrontation between Israel and Iran make the withdrawal of US forces and equipment, including air-defense systems, a much harder issue for President Joe Biden to negotiate. Clearly, their presence might be needed in the future in the defense of Israel, as was the case this past weekend.

Along with Iran and its proxies and partners in Syria and Yemen, Iran-affiliated Iraqi militias were notably involved in the missile and drone attack against Israel’s military facilities. Prior to his visit to Washington, the prime minister exerted great effort in Baghdad to pressure these militias not to get involved in any Iranian retaliation. Their participation is, thus, a clear indication that their decision-making regarding anti-Israel and anti-US actions does not take into account the wishes of the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office. This undermines the message Sudani was hoping to carry to his US interlocutors in the administration and in Congress — that the Iraqi government under his leadership is moving steadily to bring these militias and their weapons under state control.

The Iranian attack and its aftermath in the region will also cast a long shadow on the Iraqi prime minister’s planned meetings with US business leaders. Observers await whether the Israeli military retaliates to last weekend’s strike; while Iranian officials are already promising any potential Israeli response will itself not go unanswered, thus likely plunging the region, including Iraq, into a prolonged state of conflict. Sudani’s message to US business leaders in the energy sector — that Iraq is a safe place for American investments — will be less effective, to say the least, given the latest developments.

More than 20 years since the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, it is high time for both the United States and Iraq to move to a normal, multidimensional bilateral relationship. It is in Iraqi and US interests to broaden and deepen the bonds between Iraqis and Americans. The US has plenty of non-military resources it can bring to the relationship to the benefit of Iraqi citizens. Whereas Iraq and its growing population present great opportunities for US firms. The major obstacle has been and remains Iraq’s geopolitics.

Follow: @rmslim

Robert S. Ford Senior Fellow

Washington wants Baghdad to continue to reduce imports of Iranian gas and electricity, integrate with regional electricity grids, secure private investment to utilize flared gas, improve Iraq’s investment climate, fight corruption, as well as improve internal security.

The US administration does not want to halt military cooperation with Iraq, and so will resist announcing a specific date for the end of the international coalition mission or for the withdrawal of more American soldiers from Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and his large delegation hope to accent economic and financial issues during his first official visit to the United States, but regional security will overshadow his discussions in Washington. Accompanying Iraq’s head of government are cabinet ministers from the fields of energy, finance, and trade as well as a coterie of businessmen. To absorb a bulging labor force and better exploit its energy resources, Iraq needs more private investment. For its part, Washington wants Baghdad to continue to reduce imports of Iranian gas and electricity through integration with Jordanian and Gulf national electricity grids and secure private investment to utilize flared gas. However, the US government cannot deliver private investment. The departure last year of ExxonMobil from the huge Qurna oilfield project, and contract disputes of Western oil companies in Iraqi Kurdistan, indicate the difficulties. The prime minister will hear that Iraq needs a better investment climate with less corruption, firmer respect for contracts, and improved internal security. In the end, the Americans can provide technical advice about how to improve Iraq’s business climate, but only political willpower in Baghdad — largely lacking so far — can make it happen.

The most sensitive business issue for the prime minister is the finance sector, where American sanctions on dozens of Iraqi banks and restrictions on dollar flows from Iraq’s oil export revenues deposited at the New York Federal Reserve Bank have rattled the Iraqi dinar exchange rate and caused public discontent. In recent months, visiting Treasury Department officials have acknowledged some Iraqi steps but urge more measures to impede money-laundering and hard currency flows to Iran and its proxy militias. Ideally, Sudani would like Treasury to lift some of its sanctions on Iraqi banks. Even if they do not go that far, President Joe Biden and Secretary Janet Yellen will pledge to maintain robust Treasury engagement with Baghdad on banking-sector reforms while Washington also presses Baghdad to further cut back imports of Iranian energy.

The Pentagon said that some of the missiles aimed at Israel as part of Iran’s coordinated attack on Saturday came from Iraq. Regional tensions and the ongoing deployment of 2,500 US troops on Iraqi soil compel President Biden and his secretaries of state and defense to press Sudani to contain militia activities in Iraq and use his influence to restrain Iranian behavior in the region. Sudani, with wide political backing in Iraq, seeks longer-term bilateral defense cooperation. The administration does not want to halt military cooperation with Iraq, and so Sudani and Biden will give the political go-ahead for technical talks about a bilateral American military assistance mission in Iraq. The Americans, however, will resist announcing on this visit a specific date for the end of the international coalition mission or for the withdrawal of more American soldiers from Iraq.

Follow: @fordrs58

Brian Katulis Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy and Senior Advisor to the President

Iran’s attack against Israel this weekend demonstrates both the volatility of the regional situation and America’s important role in keeping things from getting worse.

Against that background, the meeting between President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani offers an important opportunity for America to reformulate and broaden bilateral ties with a key “swing” state in today’s Middle East.

Iran’s attack against Israel this past weekend, sending more than 350 missiles and drones from its territory toward Israel, represented a dangerous shift in the direction of more open confrontation between two states that have mostly battled in a shadow war and through proxies for decades. At the same time, the success Israel had working in cooperation with the United States and several Arab and European countries to thwart the attack showed the balance of forces in today’s Middle East and just how weak and isolated the regime in Tehran is.

In an important way, the fact that the worst-case scenarios were averted is a testimony to the steady effort the US has made to work with partners across the region and foster deeper regional security cooperation to deal with the threats posed by Iran, its network of partners and proxies, and terrorist groups like the Islamic State. Important questions remain, including whether Israel will seek to directly retaliate against Iran; but for now, the value of America’s continued engagement in the region, rather than pulling back from it, was demonstrated in the successful joint defense against an effort by Tehran to provoke a wider war.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s visit to Washington, DC, this week comes at both an awkward but also opportune time. It is awkward because Sudani is likely to face tough questions, particularly from some voices in Congress, about why Iraq apparently did not shoot down some of the missiles and drones that crossed through its airspace or why Iraq has fallen short in reining in Iran-backed militias operating in its territory. This is an important debate to have.

At the same time, the visit represents an important chance to deepen bilateral ties with a crucial “swing state” in today’s Middle East, one that serves as a geographic bridge and regional geopolitical link. Like “swing states” in the US electoral context, Iraq has become the site of a contest for influence and power in today’s Middle East. US diplomatic engagement with Iraq remains important during a bumpy and turbulent period in the region, in part because if America doesn’t continue to show up, other forces, like Iran, China, and Russia, will seek to make further inroads.

A key part of America’s diplomatic task is to make its expectations about the bilateral security relationship with Iraq clear while also seeking to expand and diversify cooperation in ways that were previously envisioned, in deals like the Strategic Framework Agreement , but that were never fully actualized and implemented. This consist of diversifying the relationship in areas such as economic, education, technology, and energy cooperation, including in clean energy .

Prime Minister Sudani put forward some ideas about how the US-Iraqi relationship might evolve in his recent Foreign Affairs article . In turn, the Biden administration, along with Republicans and Democrats in Congress interested in seeing America play a leadership role in the Middle East, might consider that as the start of a conversation about how the two countries can chart a course toward the future.

In a region like the Middle East, the most interesting opportunities for progress often come in countries and on issues where things are less “black and white” or dichotomous — and today’s Iraq represents just such an important opening for America to step up its diplomatic engagement. Washington should work for a new type of relationship that seeks to advance US interests and values that this week’s bilateral talks might open the door to in the coming months.

Follow: @Katulis

Joseph L. Votel Distinguished Senior Fellow on National Security

Of the many topics discussed during the Biden administration’s talks with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, one that should certainly be addressed is ensuring a continued relationship between US Special Operations Forces (USSOF) and the Iraqi Counterterrorism Service (CTS).

Continued US support for and cooperation with the CTS is essential to maintain pressure on ISIS and provides a unique opportunity to keep a finger on the pulse of a geo-strategically significant area of the Middle East; while the CTS itself offers a model of sectarian integration as well as professionalism for Iraqi society and the wider region.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s visit to Washington is a significant opportunity to address critical topics around the United States and Iraq’s long and mutually supportive relationship. Iran’s unprecedented direct strike on Israel over the weekend naturally brings bilateral security and military topics to the fore. But the timing was already compelling for such talks given the ongoing war in Gaza, a previously mobilized Iranian-backed Axis of Resistance, and resurgent concerns about regional terrorism.

Of the many security-related topics discussed during these talks, one that I hope will be addressed is ensuring a continued relationship between US Special Operations Forces (USSOF) and the Iraqi Counterterrorism Service (CTS). The CTS, an organization built and supported by the US, maintains a strong partnership with USSOF, thus making it a critical, enduring strategic partner in the region. It is one of the Middle East’s most significant and capable counterterrorism forces. Many will recall that when the US-led coalition returned to Iraq in 2015 to defeat the Islamic State, we built our response on the back of the CTS — one of the few remaining Iraqi military organizations not corrupted or compromised in the massive ISIS assault.

There are three critical reasons for making sure this relationship endures.

First, the CTS remains essential to keep pressure on ISIS and future threats that will emerge in this complex region. While degraded since the loss of its territorial caliphate in 2019, the threat of the Islamic State’s reconstitution and renewed growth in capacity remains — as we have seen in Tehran and Moscow recently.

Second, the CTS is a rare and successful example of unity in a country beset with sectarian challenges. When created in May 2004, it was a merger of two multi-ethnic units built by USSOF to conduct “non-sectarian and non-political” operations. This quality remains present, and the CTS is a model to emulate for the Iraqi people and the wider region.

Finally, our relationship with the CTS provides a unique platform for the US to keep a finger on the pulse of this geo-strategically significant area of the Middle East. The small investment the US government makes in USSOF’s continued close cooperation with the CTS provides a disproportionate return in situational awareness, understanding, and access.

A robust and enduring partnership with the CTS can help mitigate risks and be a stabilizing force for a sovereign Iraq. This collaboration is in the best interest of both the US and Iraq. I hope it will be a priority topic in the Biden administration’s discussions with Prime Minister Sudani.

Winthrop Rodgers Contributor

Erbil hopes that the Biden administration will advance its interests during talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani; but Kurdish leaders are likely to be disappointed, with their demands sacrificed in service of other goals.

The Kurdistan Region’s internal divisions and its leaders’ blunders are largely responsible for the lack of emphasis on the Kurdish angle in US-Iraq relations.

Baghdad is putting increased pressure on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and undercutting its institutional, economic, and political capacity to manage its own affairs. Erbil hopes that this will be a major topic of conversation during Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s visit to Washington. Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani visited the US capital in late February in part to emphasize this danger and center it in the Biden administration’s approach to Iraq. He left with assurances that Washington and Erbil remain partners but little to suggest that President Joe Biden will prioritize Barzani’s demands during the talks with Sudani.

There are a number of areas where Kurdish leaders would like to see Washington protect their interests, including the restart of oil exports, the continued presence of US troops, attacks by Iran, the role of Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court in undermining Kurdish institutions, upcoming Kurdistan regional elections on June 10, and the federal budget. These topics will certainly be discussed during Sudani’s visit, but not always in a manner to Erbil’s liking. While the issues of oil, US troops, and Iran all have a Kurdish dimension, they fundamentally involve larger interests and players. Washington has its own concerns to address first, and Kurdish demands will be lower down its list of priorities. The role of the court and the upcoming elections are essentially internal matters. Biden may raise them with Sudani, but he is unlikely to press hard when doing so. Although the budget could have been a pressure point, the Iraqi leader lowered the temperature by paying the salaries of Kurdish public servants before Eid al-Fitr. This will likely placate Washington enough to enable discussions to move on to other issues.

The Kurdistan Region’s internal divisions and its leaders’ blunders are largely responsible for the lack of emphasis on the Kurdish angle in all of the above issues. Erbil’s friends — steadfast, but increasingly disappointed — all recognize this. Its antagonists do too and opportunistically exploit them. If the Kurdistan Region is an afterthought in Sudani’s discussions with Biden, Kurdish leaders can feel aggrieved. But they should blame their own ineffectiveness, an outdated strategy of engagement with foreign partners, backsliding across multiple policy areas, and a refusal to address internal divisions instead.

Yesar Al-Maleki Non-Resident Scholar

One thorny topic that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani will be forced to tackle head on in Washington is his government’s inability to resolve outstanding disputes with the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan over the March 2023 stoppage of oil exports to Turkey, which has harmed American business interests.

But Sudani can perhaps show progress on diversifying energy imports, which are currently dominated by Iranian natural gas and electricity: Iraq has started electricity imports from Jordan, is expected to receive electricity supplies from the Gulf, ratified long-delayed gas development contracts, will explore for gas in its western desert, plans to develop an LNG import facility, and is even tapping Turkmenistan for gas.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani will discuss a range of issues with President Joe Biden and his administration in Washington today, and while security affairs will understandably dominate, energy matters will be near the top of the list.

One thorny topic that Sudani will be forced to tackle head on is his government’s inability to resolve outstanding disputes with the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan over the March 2023 stoppage of oil exports to Turkey, which has led to an economic crisis in the region.

Iraq’s Ministry of Oil blames the non-resumption of exports on international oil companies operating in the Kurdistan region, some of which are American. Both sides continue to have fundamental disagreements on commercial terms necessary to hand over production. The firms insist that their signed contracts with Erbil are sacrosanct and demand surety of payment for past and future oil exports, while Iraq has offered measly compensation that is insufficient for them to recoup prior investments.

The continued pipeline closure has generated anger on Capitol Hill. In a March 28 letter to President Biden, eight Republican congressmen expressed “deep concern” with Sudani’s invitation to Washington. They asked the White House to pre-condition the visit with “the immediate reopening of the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline so that the Kurdistan Region is able to export oil” and that a “full cycle of oil sales and payments to Kurdistan and its oil investors” is secured.

But an area where Sudani can perhaps earn points with his hosts is on diversifying Iraq’s energy imports, which are currently dominated by Iranian natural gas and electricity. Especially in summer, when demand for electricity peaks because of scorching temperatures, Iranian imports make up 30-40% of Iraq’s available supply if sent at full levels, although volumes have proven increasingly unreliable because of Iran’s own growing demand.

Due to US sanctions on Iran’s banking system, Baghdad has struggled to pay Tehran for the imports. Funds had accumulated to the tune of $10 billion at the Trade Bank of Iraq last year. A 120-day waiver from the State Department is also required to import electricity, which is renewed as long as Iraq can demonstrate efforts to reduce its reliance on Iran.

Yet Iraq’s diversification projects are starting to bear fruit. Last month, the country started electricity imports from Jordan and is expected to receive supplies from the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) interconnected grid by summer 2025 . Iraq and Saudi Arabia are also planning a separate link to join their grids.

In February 2023, the Sudani government ratified gas-focused development contracts that were delayed by red tape since 2018, and the oil ministry is in the process of holding two new hydrocarbon licensing rounds aimed at sparking exploration for gas in the country’s western region. Sudani has also approved the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility to tap various global suppliers, with plans to add strategic gas storage. Although still sourced through Iran’s pipeline network, Baghdad also signed an agreement with Turkmenistan to import gas.

This piece originally ran as part of a longer article on Prime Minister Sudani’s April 2024 visit to Washington, here .

Follow: @yesar

Photo by Iraqi Prime Ministry Press Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

The Middle East Institute (MEI) is an independent, non-partisan, non-for-profit, educational organization. It does not engage in advocacy and its scholars’ opinions are their own. MEI welcomes financial donations, but retains sole editorial control over its work and its publications reflect only the authors’ views. For a listing of MEI donors, please click her e .

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Chinese foreign minister criticizes US role in Gaza talks during visit to Indonesia

The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers called for an immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta Thursday. Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi told reporters that the two countries share the same view about the importance of a cease-fire and of resolving the conflict through a two-state solution. (AP Video/Andi Jatmiko)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right, walks with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi during their bilateral meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Willy Kurniawan/Pool Photo via AP)

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Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi gestures as she speaks during a bilateral meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers called for an immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, condemning the humanitarian costs of the ongoing war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/Pool Photo via AP)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gestures as he speaks during his bilateral meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/Pool Photo via AP)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, second right, speaks during a bilateral meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, bottom second left, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Willy Kurniawan/Pool Photo via AP)

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, left, speaks during their bilateral meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/Pool Photo via AP)

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, right, shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their bilateral meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/Pool Photo via AP)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrives for a bilateral meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Willy Kurniawan/Pool Photo via AP)

In this photo provided by the Indonesian Presidential Palace, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi , left, shakes hands with Indonesia President Joko Widodo during a meeting at the palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers called for an immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, condemning the humanitarian costs of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas. (Vico/Indonesian Presidential Palace via AP)

In this photo provided by the Indonesian Presidential Palace, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, talks with Indonesia President Joko Widodo during a meeting at the palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers called for an immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, condemning the humanitarian costs of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas. (Vico/Indonesian Presidential Palace via AP)

Indonesian President-elect and current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, left, stands next to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as Wang signs a guest book in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim/Pool)

Indonesian President-elect and current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, left, greets Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers called for an immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, condemning the humanitarian costs of the ongoing war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attacked the United States for earlier blocking United Nations resolutions calling for a cease-fire in Gaza after a meeting with his counterpart in Indonesia.

The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers reiterated their countries’ calls for an immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, condemning the humanitarian costs of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas.

The U.S., together with Egypt and Qatar, brokered a brief cease-fire earlier in the war that included some swaps of hostages taken by Hamas and other militant groups in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and has sought to bring about a new deal.

But the U.S. vetoed a number of proposed U.N. Security Council cease-fire resolutions because they didn’t tie the calls directly to the release of Israel hostages or condemn Hamas’ attack that prompted the war before allowing a resolution to a pass with an abstention in late March.

The meeting took place on the second day of a six-day tour during which Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will also visit Papua New Guinea and Cambodia.

Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi told reporters that the two countries share the same view about the importance of a cease-fire and of resolving the Palestinian problem through a two-state solution.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, has long been a strong supporter of the Palestinians and does not recognize Israel.

“I am sure that China would use its influence to prevent escalation,” Marsudi said, adding that China and Indonesia “would also fully support Palestine’s membership in the U.N.”

Wang blamed the United States for holding up cease-fire resolutions at the U.N.

“The conflict in Gaza has lasted for half a year and caused a rare humanitarian tragedy in the 21st century. The United Nations Security Council responded to the call of the international community and continued to review the resolution draft on the cease-fire in Gaza, but it was repeatedly vetoed by the United States,” Wang told reporters.

American officials have argued that the cease-fire and hostage releases are linked, while Russia, China and many other council members favored unconditional calls for a cease-fire. China and Russia also vetoed one U.S.-backed cease-fire resolution , saying it was not strong enough.

Referring to the resolution that was approved by the Security Council in March, Wang said: “This time, the U.S. did not dare to stand in opposition to international morality and chose to abstain. However, the U.S. claimed that this resolution was not binding,” Wang said. “In the eyes of the United States, international law seems to be a tool that can be used whenever it finds useful and discarded if it does not want to use it.”

The two ministers also discussed their countries’ economic relationship and the South China Sea .

China is Indonesia’s largest trading partner, with the trade volume reaching more than $127 billion. China is also one of Indonesia’s largest foreign investors, with investment flows of more than $7.4 billion in 2023.

Later Thursday, Wang also met Indonesian President Joko Widodo and president-elect Prabowo Subianto , who is currently defense minister.

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Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces post hit in air strike, sources say

Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, an official security force, said its command post at Kalso military base about 50 km (30 miles) south of Baghdad was hit by a huge explosion late on Friday, and two security sources said it resulted from an air strike.

The governor of Russia's western region of Smolensk said on Saturday that a Ukrainian drone hit a fuel depot overnight, setting it on fire, while an attack on the regional centre has been repelled.

Iranian foreign minister says it will not escalate conflict and mocks Israeli weapons as ‘toys that our children play with’

Iran's foreign minister on Friday refused to acknowledge that Israel was behind the recent attack on his country and described the weapons that were used as more like children's toys.

"What happened last night was not a strike," the foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, said in an interview with NBC News' Tom Llamas. "They were more like toys that our children play with – not drones."

Amirabdollahian, who spoke to NBC News in New York where he was attending a U.N. Security Council session, said Iran was not planning to respond unless Israel launches a significant attack.

"As long as there is no new adventurism by Israel against our interests, then we are not going to have any new reactions," he said.

But the foreign minister warned that if Israel did attack Iran, the response would be swift and severe.

"If Israel takes a decisive action against my country and this is proven to us," he said, "our response will be immediate and to the maximum and will cause them to regret it."

The recent cycle of violence between Israel and Iran began on April 1 when Israel bombed an Iranian consular building in the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing two generals and five officers in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran responded 12 days later, launching an unprecedented, direct military attack on Israel involving more than 300 missiles and drones. The assault caused no significant damage, however. Nearly all of the missiles and drones were intercepted by Israeli, U.S. and other allied forces.

Amirabdollahian said the attack was intended to be "a warning." "We could have hit Haifa and Tel Aviv," he said. "We could have also targeted all the economic ports of Israel."

"But our red lines was civilians," he added. "We only had a military purpose."

Although Iran has been locked in a shadow war with Israel for decades, with Iran arming and training proxy forces hostile to Israel in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, the Iranian aerial barrage marked the first time Tehran had staged an overt military attack on Israel.

In the days that followed, the Biden administration urged Israel to exercise restraint and not conduct a retaliatory attack that could trigger a full-blown war between the two longtime adversaries.

Israel, though, retaliated on Thursday night, striking a military airfield near the city of Isfahan in central Iran. Nuclear facilities in the area were not damaged, according to Iranian state media, and there were no reports of casualties. 

The attack was downplayed by Iranian state media and met with mostly silence from Israeli officials. The limited scope of the strike and the lack of public statements afterward appears to indicate that both sides are looking to ease tensions, experts said.

U.S. officials called for calm. "We do not want to see this conflict escalate," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.

The Biden administration has accused Iran of being “complicit” in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, citing Tehran’s years-long effort to arm and train Hamas militants in the Gaza strip.

Iran touts its support for Hamas but the government has said it did not order or coordinate the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed some 1,200 people.

In his interview, Amirabdollahian said Iran had no prior knowledge of Hamas' attack. He also said Hamas was not a terrorist organization but a liberation movement opposed to Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

He called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu "unhinged" and blamed the Israeli government for the stalled hostage negotiations. He accused Israel of making excessive demands to compensate for its failure to meet its objectives in the war in Gaza.

"It has not been able to destroy Hamas or to arrest the leaders inside Gaza, has not been able to disarm Hamas, has not been able to destroy the weapons and equipment," Amirabdollahian said.

"Therefore it had to resort to killing women and children," he added, "and now at the negotiating table, they are trying to get what they could not get on the ground."

Still, the foreign minister said he hopes that a deal will be reached soon for the release of the hostages as part of a broad settlement. Hamas is "ready to go ahead with the release of the prisoners within the format of a humanitarian political package encompassing everything."

"I think now is a good time," he said. "There is a good chance for this."

Tom Llamas is a senior national correspondent for NBC News.

Rich Schapiro is a reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit.

Dan De Luce is a reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit.