ERBIL () - The United States State Department confirmed on Saturday that Assistant Secretary of State Donald Blome met with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, describing the discussion as fruitful and focused on strengthening commercial ties, promoting Iraqi sovereignty, and pursuing a safer and more prosperous future for the Middle East.
"Assistant Secretary Donald Blome enjoyed meeting Iraq's Foreign Minister, His Excellency Dr. Fuad Hussein on the sidelines of UNGA,"the State Department posted on X on Saturday. "They had a fruitful discussion on how the United States and Iraq can work together to strengthen commercial ties, promote Iraqi sovereignty, and pursue a safer and more prosperous future for the Middle East."
The meeting adds a further layer to an already dense week of US-Iraq diplomatic engagement at the UNGA margins. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, with both sides agreeing on the importance of Iraq dismantling terrorist militias, preventing attacks from Iraqi territory, and fully exercising its sovereignty. Rubio separately warned that Iraq risks Balkanization unless its armed factions are brought under state control. Al-Zaidi also attended a multilateral GCC session alongside President Trump.
The Blome-Hussein meeting's focus on commercial ties reflects the broader framing that al-Zaidi has consistently advanced throughout the UNGA week, describing the post-coalition phase as a transition from military to economic cooperation between Washington and Baghdad. Hussein himself told reporters on Friday that after the completion of the coalition withdrawal process, a new phase begins, and that Iraq's economy is the first victim of the Iran war currently engulfing the region.
The emphasis on Iraqi sovereignty in the State Department's readout is consistent with the language Rubio used in his meeting with al-Zaidi and in his public warning about Balkanization, framing the militia disarmament file and the prevention of cross-border attacks as expressions of what a genuinely sovereign Iraq would deliver independently rather than as American demands imposed from outside.
The meeting between Blome and Hussein comes five days before the September 30 deadline for the international coalition's military mission in Iraq to conclude, a transition that both sides are actively managing to ensure it opens a new chapter of economic and diplomatic partnership rather than creating a security vacuum that Iran-aligned factions could exploit.
