Iraqi Defence Minister confirms agreement with US for troop pull-out

Iraq and the US have agreed on a two-year plan for the withdrawal of the US-led anti-ISIS International Coalition but have yet to sign a final agreement, the Iraqi Defence Minister said on Sunday.

The announcement by Thabet Al Abbasi on the pan-Arab Al Hadath satellite channel is the first official statement from the Iraqi government on the agreement reported by The National.

“After several rounds, seven or eight, for the higher military committees between the Iraqi and the US sides, we reached a principle through which we will operate, which is the principle of withdrawal and transitioning the relationship into a sustainable security partnership,” Mr Al Abbasi said.

During his visit to Washington in late July, Iraq and the US agreed the coalition would withdraw from bases in Baghdad and other parts of federal Iraq by September 2025, and from the autonomous northern Kurdistan region by September 2026, he said.

“We were surprised later during our meeting with the US Secretary of Defence [Lloyd] Austin who said that the two years were not enough," Mr Al Abbasi said. “We refused his proposal regarding an [extra] third year."

The escalation in the region and the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July had delayed the announcement, he said.

“We are moving forward with our plan and we have established the understandings, and maybe we will sign the agreement within the next few days,” Mr Al Abbasi said.

Baghdad and Washington have been engaged in months of talks on a withdrawal of forces. The US has about 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of the international coalition against ISIS.

Coalition forces have been hit dozens of times with drones and rocket fire in Iraq and Syria, as violence related to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza since early October has drawn in Iran-backed armed groups across the Middle East.

US forces have carried out retaliatory strikes against these groups in both countries.

ISIS seized parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014 and was defeated by Baghdad three years later and in Syria in 2019. But its fighters continue to operate in remote desert areas, although they no longer control any territory. Iraqi security forces say they are capable of tackling ISIS remnants unassisted, as the group poses no significant threat.