KNOWING YOUR ALLIES:

White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk and Iran's Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani both arrived in Baghdad on Monday, with the timing of the visits raising questions about the ongoing US-Iran rivalry in Baghdad.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani received McGurk in his office on Monday evening. According to the prime minister's media office, the meeting focused on strengthening relations between Iraq and the United States.

This comes prior to Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein's visit to Washington in February for meetings of the Higher Coordinating Committee of the Strategic Framework Agreement between the two countries.

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