Iraqi PM: 'The relationship with the United States of America must shift from a military character to an economic partnership. It is the economy that forges bonds between peoples, not military presence. I advised President Trump against launching a military strike on Iran because negotiations are the priority. Iraq must be “a point of convergence, not a battlefield” between the United States and Iran. We have no choice but to confine weapons to the hands of the state and surrender them to it. I reject the idea of Iraq turning into a failed state, and my government is committed to fighting corruption and strengthening state authority. Economic development and job creation are the true path to stability, because a citizen with a future will not resort to war or sectarianism. I discussed establishing a thirty-year investment partnership between Iraq and the United States, based on investment and technology rather than military presence.'