ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga ministry announced Saturday that all provisions of its four-year agreement with the Pentagon have been successfully implemented, following a meeting between Peshmerga Minister Shorsh Ismail and senior US defense official Michael DiMino in Bahrain.
“All related points of the MoU have been successfully implemented,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two sides, which expired in September.
DiMino, the US deputy assistant secretary of war for Near East and Central Asia, congratulated Ismail on the unification of the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces, describing their unification as an “important step,” according to the statement. Peshmerga Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Issa Ozer also attended the meeting.
The US-backed agreement, signed in September 2022, formed part of longtime efforts to unify the Peshmerga under a single command structure and end their division along partisan lines. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) have historically maintained separate military formations, Unit 80 and Unit 70, respectively, comprising around 100,000 fighters.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) formally announced the completion of the unification process in September, bringing the previously party-affiliated forces under the Peshmerga ministry through two regional commands. The reform program has received strong support from the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State (ISIS).
Under the MoU, Washington also provided financial, logistical and military assistance to the Peshmerga, including salary supplements, training and equipment. In 2025, coalition assistance was estimated at $20 million to $25 million per month, although the financial support was gradually reduced under the agreement.
The coalition's financial assistance ended in September following the expiration of the agreement, with the final payments covering August and September distributed that month, according to the Peshmerga ministry.
The end of the assistance has prompted the KRG seek additional funding from Baghdad. In September, the KRG requested an additional 450 billion ($296 million) Iraqi dinars in Iraq’s 2027 federal budget to bring the salaries and allowances of approximately 148,000 Peshmerga personnel in line with those of Iraqi federal security forces.
In a June interview with Rudaw, Ismail expressed hope that Washington would renew the agreement, warning that its expiration would bring an end to direct US financial assistance.
“We have high hopes that this agreement would be renewed, and we continue to hold that hope while pursuing every possible avenue to secure its extension,” he said.
During Saturday's meeting, Ismail and DiMino also discussed regional developments and expressed hope that disputes would be resolved through "dialogue and peaceful means."
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue, an annual security forum organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Bahrain, bringing together senior political, military and security officials to discuss regional and international security challenges.
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