ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi left for New York early Monday morning to attend the 81st United Nations General Assembly session and deliver Iraq’s speech, his office said.

The premier “will present Iraq’s positions on regional and international developments and crises, and the Iraqi government’s approach to addressing the economic and developmental challenges that Iraq is overcoming,” read a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The meeting marks the premier’s first General Assembly session since assuming office in May. It comes at a sensitive juncture for Iraq, as a US-led anti-Islamic State (ISIS) Global Coalition is set to leave the country on September 30, and the state has redoubled efforts to bring weapons under its control and curb the influence of armed groups operating outside state authority.

Zaidi is set to emphasize Iraq’s strides toward economic reform, diversifying sources of income, fighting corruption, opening up to investments and also doubling down on reexerting the country’s sovereignty over its territory, his office said.

He is also set to hold a series of meeting with leaders from several participating nations, to address bilateral relations and opportunities to build and strengthen economic cooperation, his office added.

Earlier in September, Zaidi carried out a Europe tour, visiting France and Germany and meeting with President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Friedrich Merz, signing a number of Memoranda of Understandings (MoU).

Zaidi’s first visit after assuming office was to the US in July. A meeting with Donald Trump was the center of the visit, during which the US president praised him and congratulated him on taking office.

The Iraqi premier visited Iran mere days after concluding his five-day US visit at the invitation of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, where he also oversaw the signing of a series of MoUs.