Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has told Kurdish officials and international oil executives that Baghdad will guarantee the safety of energy operations in the Kurdistan Region, and compensate American companies for losses from militia attacks, as he prepares for a high-stakes meeting with President Donald Trump next month.
The commitments, conveyed during a June 3 meeting in Baghdad and reinforced by a follow-up letter the next day, mark the most concrete steps yet by Iraq's new government to address longstanding U.S. demands on energy security, militia disarmament, and billions of dollars in unpaid debts to Western firms.
Zaidi took office on May 16. He now has roughly a month to show Washington he can deliver results, not just promises, before sitting down with a president who backed his appointment and expects a return on that investment.
Sources with knowledge of the Baghdad meeting, speaking to Just the News on condition of anonymity, said the proposed guarantees specifically address internal threats, meaning protection from Iran-aligned Iraqi militias that have targeted U.S. and international energy facilities, Kurdish civilians and infrastructure, and American partners in the Gulf.
The conflict with Iran, which began February 28, has disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and sharply cut Iraqi oil revenues. That financial squeeze has made restoring production and exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline an urgent priority for Baghdad.
A follow-up letter Thursday from the Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Natural Resources, 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 went further. It stated Iraq would compensate international and U.S. companies for losses resulting from attacks on their facilities, provided those attacks originated within Iraq. It also 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 outstanding issues are not small. Baghdad owes oil firms nearly $100 million for production and exports conducted this year through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline under a July 2025 agreement brokered by the Trump administration. Beyond that, the companies are owed an estimated $1.5 billion in arrears dating to 2022 and 2023.
Meeting attendees told Just the News that financial disputes were not discussed in detail during the June 3 session. The conversation focused on security, with economic issues deferred to future negotiations.
But attendees said they hoped Zaidi would resolve the back-pay issues before meeting Trump, delivering concrete progress rather than arriving in Washington with a list of intentions.
Industry sources close to the Trump administration said that while recent security-related steps are viewed positively, there is an expectation that Zaidi will address other outstanding commercial and energy disputes before the meeting takes place. Paying what is owed to American companies and honoring agreements signed between the KRG and those firms would open a new chapter in U.S.-Iraq economic ties and boost investor confidence, a sharp contrast to the previous Iraqi government's track record.
The security guarantees build on groundwork laid months ago. 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."
Barzani, who had requested that Zaidi meet with the oil companies, described the prime minister's recent statements as "encouraging" on Thursday. He said the new Iraqi government appeared committed to "turning a new page" by resolving longstanding disputes.
That kind of language from Erbil matters. The relationship between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region has been defined for years by broken promises, withheld payments, and political distrust. If Zaidi can bridge that gap while also satisfying Washington, he will have accomplished something his predecessors could not, or would not.
The broader context is the Trump administration's willingness to use federal funding and diplomatic leverage simultaneously across multiple theaters, a pattern visible in domestic standoffs as well.
Since taking office, Zaidi has moved quickly to bring Iran-backed militias, collectively known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, under greater state control. 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, PMF chief Faleh al-Fayyadh said a new committee had begun work toward "complete disengagement" of the militias from any other Iraqi political entities. Three factions have agreed to the initiative so far: the Saraya al-Salam militia affiliated with populist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and Kataib al-Imam Ali.
Two of the most influential pro-Iran factions, Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, remain holdouts.
That gap is significant. Without those two groups on board, the disarmament effort stays incomplete, and the security guarantees Zaidi is offering to oil companies carry an asterisk. The militias most likely to threaten energy infrastructure are precisely the ones that have not yet agreed to stand down.
Tom Barrack, one of Trump's closest foreign policy advisers, serves as special envoy to Iraq while also holding the posts of U.S. ambassador to Turkey and envoy to Syria. He has cultivated relationships with Iraq's key political actors, including Zaidi, as well as regional leaders.
Barrack has publicly praised Zaidi's efforts as a "significant step forward, which represents the nascent foundation for a renewed Iraqi self-governance." But he added a qualifier, calling the progress "only the beginning."
That phrasing is diplomatic, but the message is plain: Washington wants more before it celebrates.
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." Zidan's 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.
The conflict with Iran has elevated Iraq's importance in U.S.-Middle East policy. With oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz disrupted and Iraqi revenues falling, the Kurdistan Region's pipeline capacity represents a strategic asset, one that only works if companies feel safe enough to operate and confident they will be paid.
For Zaidi, the Washington visit is a chance to prove that Iraq's new government is a reliable partner, not another iteration of the dysfunction and double-dealing that defined Baghdad's relationship with both Washington and Erbil under his predecessor.
For the Trump administration, the test is whether Zaidi can convert words into action: militia disarmament that includes the hardest cases, debt payments that actually reach American firms, and security arrangements that hold when tested.
Promises are easy in Baghdad. The bills come due in Washington.
