Top US delegation discusses troop withdrawal with Iraqi PM

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi received a top US delegation on Tuesday to discuss the recent strategic talks between both countries, including discussions on the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, according to a statement from the PM's office. 

The delegation, headed by US Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk, discussed with Kadhimi “coordination and cooperation in various fields, emphasizing implementing the outcome of the strategic dialogue between Iraq and the USA, especially with regard with the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq,” read the statement.
 
The US delegation also met with Mohammed al-Halbousi, speaker of the Iraqi parliament, discussing the implementation of the outcomes of the talks, according to Halbousi’s office.

Strategic dialogue between the US and Iraq began under the administration of former President Donald Trump last June, with the first round of talks under Joe Biden’s administration held last month. In the last round, a joint statement from both countries said that the US will move its remaining combat troops out of Iraq. 

“Based on the increasing capacity of the ISF [Iraqi Security Forces], the parties confirmed that the mission of US and Coalition forces has now transitioned to one focused on training and advisory tasks, thereby allowing for the redeployment of any remaining combat forces from Iraq,” read the joint statement published on April 7.

US forces have come under repeated attack since the US assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad in January 2020, leading to a spate of rocket attacks on bases hosting coalition troops and a non-binding parliamentary resolution to expel all foreign troops from the country. 

The delegation is expected to arrive in the Kurdistan Region on Wednesday, meeting with top Kurdish officials, according to Safeen Dizayee, Head of the Kurdistan Regional Government Department of Foreign Relations.

Dizayee told Rudaw that the visit comes as several changes have happened in Iraq and the region since Biden took office in January. 

“They will come to discuss these changes as well as the strategic talks between the USA and Iraq and several other issues.”