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The United States is expected to complete the withdrawal of its remaining forces from Iraq by Sept. 30, bringing an end to a military presence that began with the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, CBS News reported Wednesday, citing officials.
Washington and Baghdad agreed in 2024 to wind down the U.S.-led military mission against Daesh in Iraq.
U.S. forces withdrew from bases across most of Iraq last year but maintained a presence in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the north, according to CBS News.
Those bases have repeatedly come under attack since the United States and Israel launched the war against Iran on Feb. 28.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi met Wednesday with U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Adm. Brad Cooper, CBS News reported.
Following the meeting, Zaidi said he had reaffirmed Sept. 30 as the “fixed and final date for ending the military mission of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in Iraq and completing the departure of its forces.”
A U.S. official also confirmed to CBS News that Washington expects the withdrawal to be completed by Sept. 30.
The official did not disclose how many U.S. troops remain in Iraq or where they would be redeployed after leaving the country.
In a separate statement on X, al-Zaidi’s office said the prime minister described the Sept. 30 deadline as “final and irreversible.”
“Oct. 1 would mark a new day in Iraq’s statehood,” Zaidi said, adding that Iraq “would be free of any foreign military presence.”
Zaidi said Iraq needs the efforts of all its people to build a strong economy and a stable state.
He also said placing all weapons under exclusive state control is a “key condition for moving Iraq into a new phase of development and prosperity.”
“Both sides affirmed their complete and final agreement to end the international coalition’s military mission, as agreed upon during the prime minister’s visit to Washington in mid-July,” the statement said.
Zaidi and Cooper stressed that Iraqi-U.S. ties would shift toward economic and security cooperation based on mutual respect for sovereignty and shared interests, it added.
The withdrawal comes after several U.S. military deaths in Iraq in recent months.
An American soldier was killed last month during the controlled detonation of an Iranian drone in Iraq, according to CBS News.
Six other U.S. service members were killed in Iraq in March when a refueling aircraft crashed.
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