Barzani meets Kadhimi in Erbil amid busy week of political consultations

ERBIL — Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani met Sunday with former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in Pirmam, Erbil, to discuss political developments in Iraq and the wider region, including coordination among Iraqi political parties.

Kadhimi served as prime minister from May 2020 to October 2022, taking office after the resignation of Adel Abdul Mahdi following widespread protests in 2019 and organizing the early parliamentary elections of October 2021. His last visit to the Kurdistan Region before Sunday was in November 2025, when he traveled to Duhok for the Middle East Peace and Security Forum.

The meeting came as Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani was in Baghdad for talks on unresolved disputes between Erbil and the federal government. Masrour Barzani met Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi, Supreme Judicial Council head Faiq Zaidan and State of Law Coalition leader Nouri al-Maliki, with discussions focused on filling ministerial vacancies from this month’s partial confidence vote and longstanding issues including the federal budget and oil exports.