Kurdistan Region PM receives new US Consul General in Erbil

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region is a top strategic partner of the United States in the Middle East, the country’s newly-inaugurated envoy to the autonomous region told its prime minister on Sunday.

The comments came as Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani received Robert Palladino, the new US Consul General to Erbil, in Erbil, with the two covering a wide range of political and security developments in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, according to a statement from the premier’s office.

Read More: Meet the new US Consul General in Erbil: Robert Palladino

Palladino reiterated that the autonomous Kurdistan Region is a strategic ally of the United States in the region and that his government would maintain its robust support for it.

This, he specified, would include direct support for Kurdish Peshmerga forces, saying his mission would also work to further American investment in the Kurdistan Region.

Earlier on Sunday, the new diplomat started his rounds of visits by meeting President Masoud Barzani, head of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and former president of the Kurdistan Region.

Read More: New US envoy to Erbil meets with Kurdish leader for the first time

For his part, Barzani warmly congratulated the diplomat on taking his new post and thanked his predecessor, Rob Waller.

Editing by John J. Catherine