Iraq PM seeks to stay out of regional conflict, calls for US pressure on Israel to end Gaza war

WASHINGTON — The region risks being pushed into a comprehensive war, said Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, noting that the international community, including the United States, needs to put more pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Keeping Iraq out of regional conflict

Sudani, who met Monday with US President Joe Biden at the White House, is on a weeklong visit to the United States, which also includes stops in Houston and Michigan.

Both Sudani and the Biden administration want to prevent Iraq from becoming embroiled in the Israel-Hamas war. In January, an Iranian missile attack on the Kurdistan Region killed four Iraqi Kurdish civilians. A drone attack two weeks later from an Iran-linked group in Iraq killed three American service members and injured more than 40 in Jordan, prompting a US military response.