ERBIL — Kurdistan Region PM Masrour Barzani on Thursday held a phone call with White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Brett McGurk, discussing the decision by the top Iraqi court which targeted the Region's financial entitlements.

"During the call, the MENA Coordinator reflected on his recent visit to Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region, where he met with a number of officials about the next steps to resolve Baghdad-Erbil issues on the budget and other issues," PM Barzani's office said in a statement.

The US official emphasized the importance of unity among the Kurdish parties and improving relations between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), according to the statement.

They also shed light on the latest decision by the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court which prevents Baghdad from sending Erbil's shre of the federal budget for the last two months of 2022.

Prime Minister Barzani expressed his disappointment with the Court’s ruling in light of the "positive atmosphere" and improving relations between Erbil and Baghdad, describing the ruling as "politically motivated and an overreach of the Court’s authority."

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani at the end of last year, made the executive decision to send $260 million owed to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

During the phone call, McGurk reaffirmed his "country’s support for Peshmerga reforms, developments in the energy sector, infrastructure improvements. and combating climate change," the statement added. "They both agreed on the need to remove all obstacles to the development of the energy sector, and greater U.S. investment in the Kurdistan region. They concluded the call by agreeing to stay in close contact."