Iraq’s prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, arrived in Washington seeking to turn U.S. support into badly needed economic relief, including major energy investment and a possible IMF loan of up to $8 billion. But the visit is unfolding under heavy security and political pressure, as Washington demands action against Iran-backed armed factions in Iraq and Tehran-aligned groups in Baghdad reject closer U.S. ties, warning against what they describe as a new form of American economic control.
Ali al-Zaidi met US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday in a visit that crystallised Iraq’s defining dilemma: welcoming American investment while Iran-aligned militias operating on Iraqi soil continue attacking US military assets across the region.
Trump was effusive, calling al-Zaidi young and handsome and someone he wanted to do business with. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was more direct, warning Iraq to disarm Iran-aligned armed groups and assert its sovereignty. A source told Al Jazeera that Iraq is also seeking an IMF loan of up to $8 billion during the same visit.
The arithmetic of Iraq’s bind is stark. Oil exports account for 90% of government revenues and 90% of all Iraqi trade flows through the Persian Gulf, which the US has now blockaded for the second time this year. Iran-aligned militias have already attacked US forces from Iraqi soil, triggering retaliatory US strikes that violated Iraq’s sovereignty. Six Arab states issued a joint condemnation of those attacks, and Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait reportedly struck targets linked to the militias in response.
Analyst Julia Rudolf told Al Jazeera that escalation could trigger direct security spillovers, break apart governing coalitions, stall investment and reconstruction, and shrink Iraq’s diplomatic space from mediator to battlefield.
Al-Zaidi, a businessman with no prior political experience, was effectively chosen for the role in January after Trump threatened to withdraw US support if the more pro-Iran former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki returned to office.
