ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani received a phone call from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday in which the pair discussed strategic relations between the two sides as well as regional security and stability.

“Both sides stressed the improvement of strategic relations of the United States and the Kurdistan Region,” in addition to continuing the cooperation and assistance between the two sides in the sectors of energy and finances. They also touched on the security and stability of Iraq, Syria, and the region as a whole, read a statement from Barzani’s office.

“I reaffirmed our shared commitment to peace, stability, and the strong partnership between the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, and the United States, and conveyed our deep gratitude for America’s steadfast support over the years,” Barzani wrote in an X post.

During a recent visit by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to Washington earlier in May, Rubio described Erbil's autonomy and economic freedom as the “linchpin” to the United States’ approach toward Iraq. The premier, during his visit, inked a number of deals in the energy field that combined for a value of around 110 billion US dollars.

“Cooperation between the U.S. and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region contributes to the stability within Iraq and the broader region,” Rubio wrote on X after the phone call, adding that “key economic partnerships with U.S. companies also benefit both the American and Iraqi peoples.”

The Kurdistan Region’s increased economic ties with the US mark another development in the relations between the two long-standing allies, who joined forces in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS). Baghdad, however, struck a harsh tone, rejecting the deals in a statement before it was reported that they had filed a lawsuit against the Kurdistan Region in Baghdad’s Karkh Commercial Court.

The pair last met in February in Munich, during which the Kurdistan Region President extended an official invitation to the top US diplomat to attend the opening of the new US Consulate General compound in Erbil later in the year, while Rubio reaffirmed that the US will remain an ally of Erbil.