Tanya Goudsouzian
When Arab leaders arrived in Iraq last week for the Arab League Summit, they were greeted by a city determined to impress.
Driving into the city from Baghdad International Airport, they passed the statue marking the spot where, on January 3, 2020, a U.S. drone strike killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, commander of Iraq’s Kata’ib Hezbollah militia. The strike, carried out on Iraqi soil without the consent of the government, amplified demands for the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces.
These demands still reverberate in Iraq’s corridors of power — and its streets.
While negotiations were delayed for years, Coalition Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, the 30-nation force formed in 2014 to conduct military operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, finally agreed to terminate its mission and disband its headquarters in September 2025. Importantly, this does not fully end all foreign military presence in Iraq, as a provision in the agreement allows for continued military operations in Syria from an undetermined location until September 2026, as well as another provision that calls for “bilateral security partnerships in a manner that supports Iraqi forces and maintains pressure on ISIS.”
On these two provisions — continued operations against ISIS in Syria from an undetermined location (likely Northern Iraq/Kurdistan) and in-country bilateral security partnerships — there are significant disagreements within Iraq. Some Shia political and religious factions continue to push for a full and immediate withdrawal as do Iranian-backed paramilitary forces. Others argue that the international military support is critical, particularly considering the lingering threat posed by ISIS and regional instability such as developments in Syria.
One former senior official offers a frank assessment of the current landscape.
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