Iraqi Foreign Ministry announces postponement of announcement of end of international coalition military mission in Iraq due to recent developments
The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded on Thursday to statements made by the official spokesman for the US State Department. While announcing the postponement of the announcement of the end of the military mission of the international coalition in Iraq due to recent developments, it confirmed that there are no US forces in Iraq except for the advisors under the umbrella of the international coalition.
The ministry said in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, “These advisors are included in the outcomes of the Supreme Military Committee’s work, and both parties are committed to the mechanisms followed and their outcomes.”
She explained that “the work of the Supreme Military Committee has focused over the past months on assessing the threat of ISIS with the aim of reaching a final date for ending the military mission of Operation Inherent Resolve. On this basis, the presence of international coalition advisors of all nationalities on Iraqi soil will be ended. These discussions included details that included the order of withdrawal of advisors from the sites, and all that remains is to agree on the details and date of the announcement and some other logistical aspects. We were very close to announcing this agreement, but due to recent developments, the announcement of the end of the international coalition’s military mission in Iraq was postponed.”
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry indicated that “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,” stressing that “this relationship existed before the coalition and will continue after it.”
She pointed out 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.”
On Wednesday, July 31, 2024, the military spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, reported on Wednesday that coalition forces had committed a “heinous crime and blatant attack” north of Babylon, pledging to take appropriate legal and diplomatic measures “to preserve rights.”
An American official said on Wednesday that his country’s forces targeted fighters in the Iraqi province of Babil with a defensive air strike who tried to launch drones that threatened American forces and the international coalition, resulting in the killing of four members of the Popular Mobilization Forces.
Negotiations between Baghdad and Washington resumed last February, with the adoption of a deliberate and gradual reduction, leading to the end of the mission of the international coalition forces to combat ISIS, according to official Iraqi statements, to be followed by two other rounds in March and April.
There are about 2,500 American soldiers in Iraq, as part of the international coalition led by Washington since September 2014. The soldiers are distributed across three main sites in Iraq: Ain al-Assad base in Anbar, Harir base in Erbil, and Camp Victoria adjacent to Baghdad International Airport. In addition to the American forces, there are French, Australian, and British forces operating within the coalition forces, and others within NATO in Iraq.
Shafaq.com