Beirut: The US formally announced that the coalition mission in Iraq will come to a close in September 2025, but emphasised that troops will stay in country as part of an “evolution of the military mission in Iraq” and the counter-ISIS mission will continue.
“To be clear, the United States is not withdrawing from Iraq,” a senior administration official told reporters. “We are moving towards the type of productive long-term security relationship that the United States has with partners around the world.”
The US and Iraq have agreed “on a two phase transition plan for operations in Iraq,” the official said. “In the first phase, we’ll be concluding the global coalition’s military mission in Iraq, the Combined Joint Task Force Inherent Resolve, and ending the presence of coalition forces in certain locations in Iraq as mutually determined.”
That phase will begin this month and finish by the end of September 2025. The second phase involves an “understanding to allow the coalition to continue to support counter-ISIS operations in Syria from Iraq … until at least September 2026,” the official said.
“While ISIS is down, they are not out,” the official said. “ISIS continues to pose a real threat although diminished in Iraq and the wider region. Together the US, Iraq and the coalition remain committed to defeat the core ISIS threat. We plan to continue focusing on that important task as we head into the future.”
The official did not say how many troops — US or coalition allies — would be leaving Iraq. When it comes to a common operating picture, not everyone needs the same equipment. What they need is the same situational awareness.
Though the announcement from Iraq marks a significant milestone in the long, contentious history of US-Iraqi relations, analyst Norman Ricklefs said it’s better described as a “drawdown” than a total “withdrawal.”
