PM Barzani underlines protecting, maintaining coalition and diplomatic missions in Iraq

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday discussed the necessity to protect the diplomatic missions based in Iraq as well as the US-led coalition against ISIS in a meeting with the Finnish ambassador.

Barzani received Ambassador of Finland to Iraq Anu Saarela in Erbil, where they discussed the latest developments in Iraq and the Middle East as well as enhancing bilateral ties, according to a statement from the premier’s office.

The officials discussed the importance of safeguarding the stability and security of the Kurdistan Region, Iraq as well as the diplomatic missions and the US-led Coalition against ISIS, and maintaining their duties, the press release added.

Speaking of the relations between Erbil and Baghdad, they reiterated the need to pay the Kurdistan Region’s financial entitlements as well as the resumption of the Kurdish region’s oil export soon, it added.

Finland is a partner of the 86-member Coalition against ISIS in Iraq that has been advising and assisting the Iraqi army and Kurdistan Region Peshmerga forces in the fight against the terror group, whose self-styled caliphate was toppled in 2017.

Since November last year, the international troops have come under several drone and missile attacks following the eruption of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza. More than 120 attacks have been witnessed since then, according to the Pentagon.

The US Embassy in Baghdad has recently come under Katyusha attacks, often blamed on Iranian-backed militia groups that similarly target the Erbil Air Base that houses the Coalition forces in the Kurdistan Region’s capital.