The United States and Iraq have said that a US-led coalition in the country to fight ISIL (ISIS) will wind down by the end of 2025, but they left the door open to a prolonged military presence.
The joint announcement on Friday did not specify what the future of US troops in Iraq will be, with officials stressing that the move represents more of a “transition” than a “withdrawal”.
A senior official from US President Joe Biden’s administration who briefed reporters said the wind-down would involve two phases.
The first phase – expected to end in September 2025 – will include “ending the presence of coalition forces in certain locations in Iraq as mutually determined”, the official said.
The second phase would see the US continue to operate in Iraq in some capacity “at least through” 2026 to support ongoing anti-ISIS coalition efforts in Syria.
US-Iraq defence ties would then shift away from the coalition to “an expanded US-Iraqi bilateral security relationship”, the official said. They declined to say whether that shift would signal a full withdrawal of US troops.
“We’re not in a position right now to begin to either speculate or discuss exactly where we’re going to end up on all of it,” the official said.
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