ERBIL — The ‘strategic dialogue’ between the United States and Iraq is expected to begin on Thursday, 11th June, said Faris Issa, Kurdistan Region representative in Baghdad.

The dialogue, meant to be a series of meetings between high-level US and Iraqi officials, is intended to put all aspects of the U.S.-Iraqi relationship on the table, in which the Kurdistan Region will also participate.

BasNews has learned that the Kurdistan Region will be represented in the dialogue by Fawzi Hariri, the chief of staff to the president of Kurdistan.

Issa said that Iraqis have formed a negotiating team in the recent days, and that the dialogue is expected to begin at the scheduled time.

Kurdish senior politician Hoshyar Zebari, who has previously served as Iraq’s foreign minister and minister of finance, wrote on Twitter that Baghdad should rethink its delegation to the dialogue.

“US negotiating team with Iraq team on US-Iraq Strategic dialogue is much stronger and more professional than our Iraqi colleagues,” Zebari wrote on Twitter.

“This disparity need to be addressed & should have an equal parity. This is a very serious negotiating issue,” he added.