ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi and US officials are expected to meet next week to discuss the future of the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), a Pentagon official said on Friday, with the transition of the coalition’s mission expected to be announced in the coming week.
“[W]e will be transitioning away from the coalition military mission in Iraq more to enduring bilateral security partnerships,” a senior administration official from the Pentagon said during a press briefing.
“We haven't reached any final conclusions. I think this will kind of unfold over the course of next week. We look forward to having very constructive discussions with Prime Minister [Mohammed Shia’ al-]Sudani and other prominent leaders, including those who have been central to this coalition,” he added.
The announcement is expected to be made at a time when Sudani will be in New York to attend the 79th Annual UN General Assembly meeting. The Prime Minister is expected to meet with several world leaders and officials during the trip.
In August, the Iraqi foreign ministry said they had reached an agreement with Washington on a withdrawal but that the announcement has been delayed.
The previous day, the US State Department denied that a withdrawal had been discussed. “At no point did we discuss the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, but we continued to discuss a - the transition to a - what we would say a bilateral security partnership,” deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a press conference.
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 has 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.
Baghdad has said the commission aims to end the coalition forces' presence in the country, while Washington has described the step as a “transition” in the coalition’s role.
“I think it's important though to emphasize that what we're talking about is an evolution of the coalition mission, ultimately the ending of the coalition military mission in Iraq,” the Pentagon official said on Friday.
Earlier this month, Sabhan Mullah Jiad, the political advisor to the Iraqi prime minister, told Rudaw that the global coalition forces are set to leave Iraq by the end of 2025.
“In the talks between Iraq and the US, we have reached an agreement for the international coalition forces against ISIS, including US forces, to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2025,” he said.
Jiad said that the withdrawal will begin before the end of this year, “and later, through several phases, all will be pulled out by the end of 2025.”
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