On Thursday, the official spokesman for the US State Department made statements that the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to. While announcing the postponement of the announcement of the end of the international coalition’s military mission in Iraq as a result of recent developments, it was confirmed that the US has only advisors under the international coalition’s umbrella in Iraq.
“These advisors are included in the outcomes of the work of the Supreme Military Committee, and both parties are committed to the mechanisms followed and their outcomes,” the ministry stated in a statement.
She explained, “The work of the Supreme Military Committee has focused over the past few months on assessing the threat posed by ISIS with the intention of determining a final date for the military mission of Operation Inherent Resolve to end.” All nationalities of international coalition advisors will be eliminated from Iraqi soil on this basis. The order of advisors’ withdrawal from the sites was discussed, and now all that remains is to agree on the announcement’s details, date, and a few other logistical aspects. Due to recent developments, the announcement of the end of the international coalition’s military mission in Iraq was postponed. We were very close to announcing this agreement.
According to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, “the bilateral relationship with the United States in all areas, including the security relationship, is completely separate from the course of the relationship with the international coalition forces,” and “this relationship existed before the coalition and will continue after it.”
She mentioned that, “the Iraqi delegation discussed the future of the security relationship in the areas of training, armament, equipment, and security cooperation, in light of what is permitted by the Iraqi constitution and the framework of the strategic agreement between Iraq and the United States,” as she put it.
Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the military spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, reported on July 31, 2024, that coalition forces had committed a “heinous crime and blatant attack” north of Babylon and pledged to take appropriate diplomatic and legal measures “to preserve rights.”
Four members of the Popular Mobilization Forces were killed in a defensive air strike on fighters in the Iraqi province of Babil who attempted to launch drones that posed a threat to American forces and the international coalition, according to a US official on Wednesday.
According to official Iraqi statements, negotiations between Baghdad and Washington resumed in February with the adoption of a deliberate and gradual reduction, which resulted in the termination of the international coalition forces’ mission to combat ISIS. Two additional rounds of negotiations were scheduled for March and April.
Since September 2014, the international coalition led by Washington has placed approximately 2,500 American soldiers in Iraq. The soldiers are spread out across three main Iraqi locations: Camp Victoria, which is close to Baghdad International Airport, the Harir base in Erbil, the Ain al-Assad base in Anbar, and so on. In Iraq, in addition to the American forces, the coalition forces include forces from France, Australia, the United Kingdom, and NATO.
