The leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Masoud Barzani, said on Monday the meeting came at his suggestion.

Barzani said he hoped the meeting would "produce positive results and pave the way towards resolving the current problems facing the political process in Iraq.”

Sadr announced in a tweet following the meeting, "Stop terrorism and violence … we are still with forming a national majority government and we welcome dialogue with the opposition.”

Halbousi announced via Twitter, "The time of foreign influence in the formation of the Iraqi government is over.”

"Today, the mountains and deserts of Iraq are moving to Najaf for the discussions of a purely national Iraqi government, neither eastern nor western,” Halbousi stated, referring to Kurds and Arabs.

Masoud Barzani met with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Brigadier General Esmail Qaani in Erbil on Sunday, Fars News Agency said.

Qaani had earlier visited Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) in Samarra to view the security situation there.

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