Iraq postpones announcing end date of US troop presence
Iraqi and US officials have been negotiating the end of the US-led military coalition's mission in Iraq for months amid pressure from the Iraqi resistance for US troops to leave
Iraq has postponed an announcement on the date for an end to the US-led coalition’s mission in the country, the foreign ministry stated on 16 August. The postponement is due to the “latest developments,” the ministry said, without specifying further.
The US-Iraq Higher Military Commission, comprising officials from both countries, discussed details of withdrawing advisers from military sites, the foreign ministry added in its statement.
It said the only remaining issues before reaching a deal on ending the coalition’s mission in Iraq were agreement on an announcement date, logistical aspects, and other details.
A foreign ministry official told Reuters that the end of the coalition’s mission should be announced in early September.
Iraq wants troops from the US-led military coalition to begin withdrawing advisers in September and to formally end its presence by September 2025, Reuters added, with some US forces likely to remain in a newly negotiated advisory capacity.
The decision comes after troops from the US-led international coalition returned to the K-1 military base in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk in early August. It was the first deployment of US troops in the oil-rich city since 2020.
The 2,500 US troops in Iraq support the 900 US troops occupying northeast Syria in partnership with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Iraqi armed forces increased security along the country’s western border with Syria in mid-July following the release of hundreds of ISIS fighters from prison camps controlled by the US-backed SDF.
Authorities from the SDF-controlled Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) issued a general amnesty that has so far secured the release of over 1,500 Syrian ISIS fighters convicted of terrorism-related offenses, provided they “did not participate directly in combat” against the SDF.
Informed Iraqi sources speaking with The Cradle stated the US military ordered the release of the ISIS prisoners.
The US and Iraqi governments have been in negotiations for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq for months. In January, Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani stated that US forces are no longer needed to maintain security in the country. US military leaders claim they must remain in Iraq to counter ISIS.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), a coalition of Iran-backed groups, has carried out attacks against US forces, including at the Ain al-Asad airbase on 5 August, to pressure US leaders to order their withdrawal. Five US personnel were injured in the attack.
In March 2018, the Iraqi parliament approved a resolution calling for the establishment of a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops in the country.
In 2020, following the illegal US assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on Iraqi soil – constituting a major violation of the country’s sovereignty – the Iraqi parliament voted on a resolution calling for the withdrawal of US troops from the country.
The resolution specifically called for the cancellation of Iraq’s formal request for US military assistance against ISIS, which was issued in 2014. Washington completely rejected this resolution and responded by threatening Iraq with sanctions.