US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, 30 September, the completion of the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, saying Washington was leaving the country and leaving Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaydi to handle the next phase, concluding a 12-year military mission against Islamic State.
Trump described the withdrawal as orderly, saying the United States was ending what he called an “expensive journey to hell”. In a post on his social media platform, he said his country had spent too long in Iraq as a result of bad decisions that led it into that quagmire, adding that this phase would soon become part of history.
The US president said ending the mission represented a victory for the United States and Iraq, and evidence of victory over Islamic State. Trump had said during a White House reception for al-Zaydi in July that Washington no longer believed its troops needed to remain in Iraq, and that relations between the two countries would shift towards economic and investment partnerships.
Defence ministry announces completion of departure from Erbil
US Defence Department spokesman Sean Parnell said US troops and equipment had completed their departure from an air base in Erbil, in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. He added that the step reflected the success of a 12-year campaign that, according to the department’s assessment, had ended Islamic State’s status as an organised military threat in Iraq and the region.
Parnell said the completion of the departure marked a transition from a wartime military coalition mission to a security effort led by the Iraqi authorities במסגרת a routine bilateral security relationship. He confirmed that the US military would continue providing specific training and intelligence support to its Iraqi partners after the end of the military deployment.
Al-Zaydi presided over the base handover ceremony and described the withdrawal as the beginning of a new phase based on Iraq’s sovereignty, the strength of its institutions, the readiness of its forces, unity in its decision-making and balanced partnerships with friendly countries. He confirmed that Iraqi security forces would continue pursuing Islamic State and that his government was moving ahead with placing all weapons under state control.
The Iraqi prime minister had announced during his visit to Washington on 14 July that US troops would leave Iraq by 30 September, in return for expanding the presence of US companies and economic investment. He said at the time that relations between the two countries would shift from military cooperation to an economic and technological partnership.
During that visit, al-Zaydi confirmed that Iraqi forces were capable of protecting the country’s territory and borders, and that his government’s programme included preventing any party from carrying weapons outside state authority. He also said some factions had handed over weapons and that the government would co-operate with their members if they moved into political or civilian work. The withdrawal came in implementation of an understanding reached by Baghdad and Washington in 2024 to end the international coalition’s military mission against Islamic State.
Understandings on ending the coalition mission in Iraq
Most US troops had already left their bases in various parts of Iraq, while a force of hundreds of service personnel remained in the Kurdistan Region until the final stage of the withdrawal was completed. The latest US mission in Iraq began in 2014, when the Iraqi authorities requested international support after Islamic State seized large areas of the country.
US troops had previously entered Iraq in 2003, before withdrawing in 2011 and then returning as part of the international coalition against the group. The end of the mission comes as the war between the United States and Iran continues, with Israeli participation, and as tensions have spread into Iraq.
Kurdish concerns over the security implications of the withdrawal
Bases that housed US troops in the Kurdistan Region came under repeated attack, while Washington carried out strikes on sites belonging to Iraqi groups allied with Tehran. The departure of US forces raised concerns in the Kurdistan Region over the removal of air-defence systems and the possibility of an increase in drone and missile attacks.
The regional government’s Peshmerga ministry said the area had been subjected to more than 1,000 drone and ballistic-missile attacks during the US-Iran conflict, saying that the departure under the current regional circumstances was concerning if no alternative defence system was available. Iraqi groups allied with Iran, meanwhile, welcomed the end of the US military presence but said negotiations with the government on regulating weapons had not produced an agreement.
The group known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it did not consider itself bound by any timetable announced by the government or any political body, while expressing readiness for dialogue that it said would guarantee Iraq’s sovereignty and dignity.
The Iraqi government had initially linked the 30 September withdrawal date to ending the presence of weapons outside state control. However, al-Zaydi later said the process of handing over weapons by armed groups would extend until June 2027, after influential factions refused to give up their weapons or set conditions for doing so.
Iraq manages security as co-operation continues
After the withdrawal is completed, Iraq is entering a phase in which its forces will manage security operations and pursue Islamic State cells, while bilateral training and intelligence co-operation with the United States continues. The government is also seeking to expand economic ties with Washington and place weapons under the control of state institutions.
