“The meeting discussed the procedures for ending the mission of the Global Coalition Against Daesh and strengthening bilateral relations between Iraq and the United States,” read a statement from Sudani’s office, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State (ISIS).
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy Daniel Shapiro headed a security delegation, accompanied by US Ambassador to Baghdad Alina Romanowski.
The two sides also discussed security threats facing Iraq and efforts to address them, according to the PM’s office.
Romanowski said on X that both Sudani and Shapiro discussed “expanding the U.S.-Iraq bilateral defense relationship and our joint efforts to address persistent security threats to the U.S., Iraq, and the region.”
Baghdad is engaged in talks with the US-led coalition against ISIS to wind down the mission and end the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.
In January, Sudani presided over the first meeting of the US-Iraq Higher Military Commission (HMC) to discuss the future of the coalition’s mission in Iraq.
The US-Iraq HMC have held several meetings in Baghdad to “discuss the threat of ISIS, the operational environment, and the capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces.” The Iraqi government had expressed anger over US retaliatory strikes on pro-Iran, Iraqi paramilitary groups.
Hardline Shiite politicians have called for Baghdad to expel US troops from Iraq, even prior to mounting tensions over the US supporting Israel in its war on Gaza.
The US strikes were in response to hundreds of rockets and drone strikes since last October, targeting US installations and troops in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan.
Despite the rounds of meetings, the Pentagon said in February that Washington and Baghdad have not set any timelines for US force changes in Iraq.
In January, Iraqi government spokesperson Basem al-Awadi told state media that the end of the coalition’s mission in Iraq “will be achieved during the current cabinet.”
Baghdad has said the commission’s aim is to bring an end to the presence of the coalition forces in the country, while Washington has described the step as a “transition” in the coalition’s role.
The US security relationship with Iraq fully transitioned into an advise and assist role in December 2021, triggered by Baghdad's anger over US actions that the Iraqi government deemed a violation of its sovereignty - most notably the assassination of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and deputy chief of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad in early 2020.
Around 2,500 US troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria are leading an international coalition through Operation Inherent Resolve that has assisted Kurdish, Iraqi, and local Syrian forces in the fight against ISIS, which once held swathes of land in Iraq and Syria but was declared territorially defeated in 2019. The group remains a security threat, carrying out attacks on military targets and civilians on both sides of the border.
