The source confirmed that “Hussein will read, in a joint press conference with his American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, during the visit, a statement on the end of the mission of the international coalition forces in Iraq.”
According to the agency, the withdrawal of international coalition forces from all parts of Iraq, except for the Kurdistan Region, is scheduled to begin in September 2025, and the international coalition forces will evacuate the Kurdistan Region in September 2026.
Analysts said earlier this week that the ongoing talks between Baghdad and Washington regarding the withdrawal of US forces were not serious, while Iraqi officials renewed their demands for the need to accelerate the pace of negotiations to set a schedule for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.
This comes amid the anticipation prevailing in the Middle East region with the successive statements of senior officials in the United States, Israel and Iran about the military response, trends of escalation and the involvement of armed groups loyal to Tehran.
The Pentagon announced the arrival of US Air Force F-22 Raptor fighters to the US Central Command area of responsibility as part of US forces’ deployment moves in the region and to deal with the threats posed by Iran and the groups it supports in Iraq and some countries in the region.
The United States had previously announced that it was sending the aircraft carrier “Abraham Lincoln” and an additional squadron of fighter jets and warships to the Middle East as the region prepares for an Iranian response to the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
These developments come days after pro-Iranian armed groups bombed the US Ain al-Assad base in western Iraq, injuring a number of US soldiers.
Washington considered the attack a dangerous escalation in Iraq and a reflection of Iran’s negative role that would further escalate tensions in the region.
For his part, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani stressed in a phone call with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that preventing a regional war in the Middle East is directly linked to ending the Israeli war on Gaza.
Source: RT
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2024-08-14 20:30:37
