US announces military transition in Iraq but says it is not withdrawing troops

The US and Iraq announced a new two-part agreement on Friday that will see the American-led international coalition to defeat ISIS in Iraq come to an end but will remain present to counter ISIS in Syria.

“To be clear, the United States is not withdrawing from Iraq,” a senior Biden administration official said in a call with reporters.

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The official said the transition was not the end of the global coalition, which will involve a two-phase drawdown of the international troop presence inside Iraq.

The presence of coalition forces in certain locations in Iraq will end this year and conclude by September 2025.

Washington and Baghdad have reached an understanding that ISIS remains a threat in northeast Syria and will allow for the continued presence of US and Coalition troops to continue anti-ISIS operations from Iraq throughout the second phase until at least 2026. This will be contingent upon the “conditions on the ground and consultations among future political leaders in Iraq,” the senior administration official said.

“So, to be clear, while the [international coalition] mission in Iraq will end by September 2025, the coalition’s military mission operating in Syria will continue,” the official added.

A joint statement from the US and Iraqi governments the timing, and mechanisms, including how to ensure the protection of Coalition advisors present in Iraq during the transitional period would be discussed.

Several questions were asked about the exact parameters of the deal, including how many troops will withdraw and which bases the US will withdraw from. A senior administration official and a senior defense official provided ambiguous answers and said the final details were still being worked out and discussed with Baghdad.

Later, the US officials said the number of US troops could change as the talks continue. “This is a discussion that both sides have agreed to and are committed to doing for the sake of strengthening and deepening the bilateral relationship, and that is going to be going on also in the context of the time period that we laid out,” the senior administration official said.

“We are moving towards the type of productive, long-term security relationship the United States has with partners around the world,” the senior administration official said. “This transition well suits the United States to continue to pursue our longer-term goals in Iraq and in the region,” the official asserted.

The US will also continue its relationship with the Iraqi Security Forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga Forces to build up their capabilities and ensure an Iraqi-led enduring defeat of ISIS.

A ministerial meeting will be held in Washington next week to discuss the nature and severity of the ISIS threat.

A senior US defense official said the fact that Iraq has agreed to allow coalition troops to remain in the country to counter ISIS in Syria throughout at least September 2026 was evidence of Iraq’s continued participation in the international coalition “as a member of good standing.”

The defense official said Baghdad had expressed continual willingness and interest in solidifying and expanding the bilateral US-Iraq relationship going forward.

Those details are still being worked out, but they will build on what already exists with the advise and assist mission of US troops, joint training and others. “We’re very confident that we have a good partner in Iraq, in the government of Iraq, in continuing to build and deepen that security partnership,” the defense official said.

US troops have been attacked hundreds of times over the last year in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed militias, raising the fear that a US reduction in troop presence could leave a vacuum for Tehran to fill.

The US officials reiterated Friday that the Iraqi government had a responsibility to protect US and international troops from these attacks and that the US military would not hesitate to respond to more attacks. However, they did not explicitly say there were any assurances given by the Iraqi government that this would not continue.

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