Iraq Resumes Talks with US on Ending Coalition Presence
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iraq has restarted discussions with the United States regarding the termination of the mission of the US-led coalition, present in the country under the guise of combating the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) Takfiri terrorist group.
"The supreme Iraqi military commission resumed on Sunday its meetings with international coalition forces in Baghdad," stated General Yehia Rasool, the military spokesperson for the Iraqi prime minister.
The US invaded Iraq in 2003 under false pretenses of weapons of mass destruction, resulting in widespread destruction and chaos.
A military campaign led by the US and its allies was reinitiated in 2014 purportedly to combat Daesh, as the group had emerged in Iraq and Syria.
The US military announced the end of its combat mission in Iraq in 2021 but retained approximately 2,500 troops as advisers, despite the defeat of terrorists by Baghdad and its allies in late 2017.
Rasool stated that the resumed meetings aim to establish a timeline for a progressive withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq.
"The meetings will continue regularly to achieve the commission's objectives as soon as possible," he added.
Initial talks began on January 27 but were halted after a drone strike killed three US forces at a base in Jordan, prompting a series of deadly attacks by Washington in Iraq and Syria.
Former Iraqi prime minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi urged Baghdad to take decisive action to end the US mission.
"The Iraqi government should announce the end of the US mission on a specific date," Abdul-Mahdi stated in an interview with the Al-Alam television network.
He emphasized that American forces should leave as per the Iraqi government's decision.
