the Iraqi government should establish a balanced relationship with the three Arab-Iranian-American axes to maintain its stability, "Expanding relations with one party should not be at the expense of the other".

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The Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi travelled to the United States last week and was officially received by President Donald Trump and was welcomed at the highest level on Trump's orders. Al-Kadhimi's visit to the United States came about a month after he visited Iran; his visit to Iran has been highly appreciated and officially welcomed at the highest levels.. The visit has led to really good results and the two parties expressed their comfort and satisfaction", said Sayed Ali Mousavi Khalkhali, editor-in-chief of Tehran's foreign policy website, in an analysis translated from Persian by Shafaq News agency

Khalkhali added, “Al- Kadhimi returned to Baghdad from Washington on Saturday, then headed to Jordan on Tuesday to attend the third major trilateral summit between Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt in Amman, where he was received by the King of Jordan, Abdullah II at the airport with his son, the Crown Prince, as well as the Prime Minister.. Al-Kadhimi was very welcomed on a one-day visit, and the three parties -Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt- issued a statement stressing the need to recognize the complex developments in the region and support the Palestinian cause, as well as establish an independent Palestinian state in Jerusalem".

He also pointed out, "The three months, since Al-Kadhimi took office as prime minister in the Iraqi interim government, show his dynamism and vitality. He is known to have the support of the United States as one of the most influential forces in Iraq, but at the same time, the Islamic Republic of Iran considers him a desirable prime minister -away from its interests- as confirmed by how warmly he was welcomed in Tehran. So, it can be said that Iran supports Al-Kadhimi in some way”.

"Al-Kadhimi began his journey from Iran, and it was the first station of his trip abroad.. The former Iraqi prime ministers never started their trips from Iran; the visit received considerable media attention, as well as an unannounced protest from the Saudis -which was supposed to be the first stop of the Iraqi prime minister, but that visit was postponed due to the announcement of King Salman’s health situation’s deterioration – shortly thereafter, Al-Kadhimi left for the United States; not before declaring that he was not a messenger and did not receive any message from Iran to the Americans", Khalkhali added.

“Like all Iraqi officials, Al-Kadhimi is trying to distance his country from tensions between Iran and the United States. At the same time, he is well aware of the fact that he must strike a balance in his international relations", Khalkhali said, and added, "He was welcomed in Tehran and Washington, in an attempt to show that he is seeking to maintain a balance in Iraq's international relations; although Al-Kadhimi has not yet travelled to Saudi Arabia, he has attended a trilateral meeting to show that Iraq values Arab relations as much as Iraq's international ones, and wants all three Arab-Iranian-American relations together.

 The importance of this effort becomes even more obvious when we see that Al-Kadhimi has no plans to travel to Turkey, which is one of the most powerful countries in the region, due to the non-stop tension escalation with this country..Iraq has some tensions with Iran as well, but Al-Kadhimi understands its importance and position in Iraq's non-Arab relations".

He also pointed out, “it should not be assumed that expanding Iraq's relations with a state means Baghdad is moving away from Tehran. According to the equations in Iraq, no government can take power in Iraq while staying away from Iran, nor can any government ignore the Influence of the United States in Iraq".

"There have been rumors of the overthrow of Abdul Mahdi's government, due to the Americans' dissatisfaction with his proximity to Iran and his disregard of their demands..As we have seen, Abdul Mahdi's request to travel to the United States has been postponed at least four times, and ultimately he failed to complete it, mainly because of his non-compliance with U.S. sanctions against Iran".

Khalkhali gave another example, "We witnessed in the time of Nouri al-Maliki, the price that Iraq paid for its security because of Baghdad's neglect of Arab states, including the catastrophe of the rise of ISIS. Therefore, to maintain its stability, the Iraqi government must establish a balanced relationship with the three Arab-Iranian-American axes, and it is clear that expanding relations with one party is not supposed to be at the expense of the other”.