Sudani presides over Iraq-US meeting on coalition’s future

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Saturday presided over the first meeting between Iraq and the United States to discuss the future of the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq.

The Iraqi premier “supervised the launch of the first round of bilateral talks between Iraq and the United States to end the global coalition’s mission in Iraq,” read a statement from Sudani’s office. The meeting is part of the US-Iraq Higher Military Commission (HMC).

The HMC will establish working groups tasked with three areas: “the level of threat posed by ISIS, operational and environmental requirements, and strengthening the growing capabilities of the Iraqi security forces,” Sudani’s office said after the meeting.

Assessments by the working groups will later be used to formulate a timetable to “end the military mission of the coalition and transition to bilateral security relations between Iraq, the United States, and partner countries in the coalition,” added the statement.

Iraqi officials have repeatedly said they are working towards a withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq, but prior to Saturday’s meeting, the Pentagon had said they have not been asked to leave the country.

A statement by the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) described forming the HMC as a deliberate process towards the coalition’s “mission transition,” adding that the commission will work to assess progress in the mission against ISIS, as well as discussing “future adjustment’s to the coalition’s mission and presence in Iraq.”

The US security relationship with Iraq fully transitioned into an advising and assisting role in December 2021, triggered by Baghdad's anger over US actions which the Iraqi government deemed a violation of its sovereignty, most notably the assassination of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and deputy chief of the state-linked and Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad in early 2020.

The HMC “is not a negotiation about the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq… The HMC, it's a working group to determine what our future looks like together with Iraq in terms of our bilateral relationship,” Singh said.

According to Singh, the military commission will “enable the transition to an enduring bilateral security partnership between the US and Iraq.”

“Our Iraqi partners have assured us of their commitment towards working together to shape this future on US military presence and the enduring defeat of ISIS,” she added.

The Iraqi government is under mounting pressure to expel international coalition forces from the country following several deadly American retaliatory strikes on state-linked militia groups accused of conducting rocket and drone attacks on US interests.

Around 100 members of the Iraqi parliament earlier this month signed a petition calling for a binding resolution to expel forces of the US-led coalition, labeling the foreign presence a “threat” to Iraqi security. In January 2020, angry over the US killing of Iran’s Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the Iraqi parliament passed a non-binding resolution to expel all foreign forces.

American troops in Iraq and Syria have been the targets of frequent rocket and drone attacks since mid-October by Iraqi militia groups condemning Washington’s support for Israel in its war in the Gaza Strip. 

Washington has retaliated several times with deadly airstrikes that have been condemned by Baghdad as violations of Iraq’s sovereignty.

Updated at 7:07 pm