US confirms change to military mission in Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister's adviser says Baghdad remains committed to withdrawal of American forces by next year

About 2,500 US personnel are based in Iraq, where they work with Iraqi and Kurdish partners against ISIS cells. Reuters

The US confirmed to The National a change in the status of its military mission in Iraq, which it said was transitioning to a bilateral security partnership.

The move comes ahead of next month's scheduled withdrawal from certain areas in the country.

Iraq and the US announced an agreement in September last year, under which the mission of the US-led coalition against ISIS will end by next month, with the remainder of American forces in the country to depart by the end of 2026.

Reports suggested US troops had begun withdrawing from the Ain Al Assad base in the west of the country and from Baghdad International Airport to Erbil in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. A US embassy representative told The National this marked a "transition of the coalition's military mission in Iraq to a more traditional bilateral security partnership".

"This is not the end of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, which will continue civilian-led efforts globally," the representative said, stopping short of explicitly confirming whether some troops had been moved.

Hussein Allawi, adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani, told The National on Monday that the government remained committed to ending the US-led mission and shifting to a bilateral security partnership – without either side detailing what this would entail.

“The government’s vision is to find a sustainable relationship that covers all fields, among them the security field,” he said.

He noted that this approach has been pursued through “a set of methodological foundations”, beginning with the Higher Military Committee that discussed the mission of the International Coalition and the ending of the missions in September 2025 and 2026.

According to the plan, coalition activities at its headquarters and at Ain Al Assad airbase will conclude in September 2025 as part of the first phase. The second and final phase is scheduled for completion in September 2026.

He stressed that the process reflects “the Iraqi government’s commitment to implementing the agreement on ending the missions of the International Coalition and transferring the relations towards bilateral relations”, describing it as a return to “normal bilateral relations to the stage before the fall of Mosul on June 10, 2014”.

Iraq seeks to maintain co-operation with the US, UK, Spain, Turkey, Nato and the European Union “under the path of strategic agreements between the Republic of Iraq and the friendly countries of Iraq", he added. In particular, Baghdad aims to keep ties with Washington under the umbrella of the existing Strategic Framework Agreement.

US soldiers before a handover ceremony of coalition troops to Iraqi Security Forces as part of a drawdown, in Nineveh, Iraq. Reuters

Dispute over US presence

The US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS was formed in 2014 to degrade and defeat the group. Its military operations began with air strikes and later expanded to include advising and training Iraqi security forces.

About 2,500 are still based in Iraq, where they work with Iraqi and Kurdish partners against ISIS cells. Iraq is also a launch pad for US-led anti-ISIS operations in Syria, where the group continues to operate but no longer controls territory.

Sabah Al Numan, the prime minister's military spokesman, hailed the development as an "achievement and a testament to Iraq's ability to face terrorism and maintain security and stability without external assistance".

US presence in the country has been a major point of contention in domestic Iraqi politics, sparking opposition from Tehran as well as Iran-aligned groups and politicians. The agreement for a staggered withdrawal was the outcome of increasing pressure by these factions on the Iraqi government to expel US forces from the country.

American forces have also come under repeated attacks by Iran-backed forces since the US killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Qassem Suleimani in an air strike in 2020. Ain Al Assad, one of the largest military installations housing US troops, was targeted by Iranian missiles in response, causing more than 100 troops to suffer traumatic brain injuries.

There was also a surge in the number of attacks after the start of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, with groups operating under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claiming rocket and drone attacks on US assets.

The change in the mission's status comes days after a security agreement between Iran and Iraq, signed during Iran's senior security chief Ali Larijani's visit to the country, sparked US backlash.