Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has told Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials and international oil company executives that Baghdad is prepared to provide security guarantees to facilitate the rapid resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan Region.

Zaidi is expected to visit Washington next month for a White House meeting with President Donald Trump, who supported his appointment as prime minister.

Ahead of the visit, Zaidi is seeking to demonstrate progress on key US priorities, including curbing Iran-backed militias and resolving longstanding financial and energy disputes between the federal government, the KRG, and U.S. energy firms operating in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Guarantees would address internal threats

According to sources with knowledge of a meeting Wednesday in Baghdad, speaking only on condition of anonymity, the proposed security guarantees would address internal threats, specifically protection from Iran-aligned Iraqi militias that have targeted US and international energy facilities, Kurdish civilians and infrastructure, and U.S. partners in the Gulf in support of Iran.

The conflict with Iran, which began Feb. 28, has disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and sharply reduced Iraqi oil revenues. The resulting financial pressure has increased the urgency of restoring production and exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline.

A follow-up letter Thursday from the KRG Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), obtained by Just the News, reaffirmed Zaidi’s commitment to providing “clear assurances regarding the security of oil and gas operations in the Kurdistan Region.” 

The Kurdish ministry urged international oil companies, including American firms, to resume production and exports in line with the prime minister’s request.

The letter also stated Iraq would compensate international and U.S. companies for losses resulting from attacks on their facilities if those attacks originated within Iraq. It further referenced Zaidi’s directive to the Ministry of Oil to continue negotiations with the KRG and international energy firms to resolve “all outstanding issues.”

Those issues include nearly $100 million owed by Baghdad to oil firms for production and exports conducted this year through the pipeline under a July 2025 agreement brokered by the Trump administration. The companies are also owed an estimated $1.5 billion in arrears dating to 2022 and 2023.

According to attendees at the June 3 meeting, who spoke to Just the News on condition of anonymity, these financial disputes were not discussed in detail. The meeting focused primarily on security matters, with economic issues deferred to future negotiations.

But attendees said they hoped Zaidi would resolve the back pay issues before he met with Trump to deliver concrete progress.

Zaidi’s willingness to provide security commitments to U.S. and international energy companies will be welcomed in both Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, and Washington.

In March, KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani agreed to Baghdad’s request, backed by the Trump administration, to accept oil produced in Iraq into the KRG pipeline on the condition that the federal government guarantee protection from “outlaw groups and forces that continuously attack the Kurdistan Region with drones.”

Speaking Thursday, Barzani, who had requested that Zaidi meet with the oil companies, described the prime minister's recent statements as “encouraging” and said the new Iraqi government appeared committed to “turning a new page” by resolving longstanding disputes.

Industry sources close to the Trump administration told Just the News that while recent security-related steps are viewed positively, there is an expectation that Zaidi will address other outstanding commercial and energy disputes before meeting Trump.

Zaidi, by personally resolving the debts owed American companies and honoring the terms of the agreements signed between the KRG and the firms would open a new chapter in U.S.-Iraq economic ties and boost investor confidence, signaling a change from the previous Iraqi government.

The conflict with Iran has elevated Iraq’s importance in U.S.-Middle East policy. The appointment of Tom Barrack, one of Trump’s closest foreign policy advisers, as special envoy to Iraq underscores the administration’s focus on the country. Barrack, who also serves as US ambassador to Turkey and envoy to Syria, has cultivated relationships with Iraq’s key political actors, including Zaidi, as well as regional leaders.

Since taking office on May 16, Zaidi has moved quickly to bring Iran-backed militias, known collectively as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), under greater state control before his Washington visit. This has been a central demand of the Trump administration, which had grown frustrated with what it viewed as delays by the previous Iraqi government.

On Friday, Iraq’s PMF chief Faleh al-Fayyadh said that a new committee had begun work toward “complete disengagement” of the militias from any other Iraqi political entities.

Two of the most influential pro-Iran factions remain holdouts

To date, the Saraya al-Salam militia affiliated with populist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, along with Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib al-Imam Ali, have agreed to the initiative.

Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, two of the most influential pro-Iran factions, remain holdouts.

Barrack has publicly praised Zaidi’s efforts as a “significant step forward, which represents the nascent foundation for a renewed Iraqi self-governance,” to date while noting that they are “only the beginning.”

Zaidi and Barrack have also gained the support of Supreme Judicial Council President Faiq Zidan, who last week called on the PMF’s to “join their brothers and lay down their arms."

His influence within the Coordination Framework—the coalition of Shiite political leaders that played a key role in Zaidi’s appointment—could prove critical in advancing the prime minister’s agenda.