US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attends a news conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, March 31, 2020. Photo: Andrew Harnik / Pool via Reuters.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that his country welcomes an apparent agreement among Iraq’s Shia, Sunni and Kurdish groups to form a new government, adding it would need to be capable of confronting the coronavirus pandemic, helping the economy and bringing arms under control.

“We welcome that Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish political leaders seem to have arrived at a consensus on government formation, and hope the new government puts Iraq’s interests first and meets the needs of the Iraqi people,” Pompeo said in a statement.