Iraqi Prime Minister Stresses Deadline for Coalition Forces Withdrawal

According to Kurdistan Press, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced that the September 30 deadline for ending the US-led international coalition's military mission in Iraq and completing the withdrawal of its forces is "firm and final."

Al Jazeera wrote: These statements were made after al-Zaidi met with General Brad Cooper, Commander of CENTCOM. The Iraqi Prime Minister's Office announced this in a post on the social network X.

The withdrawal will end a military presence that began since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 against Saddam Hussein.Washington and Baghdad have agreed to gradually end the much more limited US-led coalition operations against the Islamic State (ISIL / ISIS) group in 2024.

 “September 30 will be the fixed and final date for the end of the global coalition’s military mission to defeat ISIS in Iraq and complete the withdrawal of its forces,” the Iraqi prime minister’s office said in a statement.

 “October 1 will be a new day on the path of the Iraqi government, as Iraq will be free from any foreign military presence,” it added.

The statement also said that placing all weapons under the exclusive control of the government was “a fundamental prerequisite for Iraq to enter a new stage of development and prosperity.”

The Iraqi prime minister’s office added that the two sides had agreed on the deadline, which was discussed during al-Zaidi’s visit to Washington in mid-July.Al-Zaidi and Cooper stressed that Iraqi-U.S. relations will shift toward economic and security cooperation based on mutual respect for Iraqi sovereignty and the two countries’ shared interests.

A U.S. official also told The Associated Press that the United States expects to complete its withdrawal by Sept. 30, but declined to say how many U.S. troops currently remain in Iraq or where they will be relocated.

 “The United States, Iraq and coalition partners have achieved significant success in defeating ISIS, and now Iraqi security forces, including the Peshmerga and other security forces from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, will lead the fight against terrorists in Iraq,” the official said.»

U.S. forces withdrew from most of Iraq last year, but maintained a presence in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.

The bases have been the target of regular attacks since the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28.

The U.S. military presence in Iraq peaked at more than 170,000 troops at the height of counterinsurgency operations in 2007.

The last U.S. combat troops left Iraq in December 2011. But in 2014, the rise of ISIS and its seizure of large swathes of Iraq and Syria prompted a return of U.S. forces to Iraq, this time at the invitation of the Iraqi government.

The coalition military operation ended in 2021 after ISIS lost control of the territory it claimed.