SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The United States and Iraq will hold a strategic dialogue next month on the withdrawal of remaining U.S. combat forces and other matters related to the bilateral ties, the White House said on Tuesday.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the meetings would clarify that coalition forces are in Iraq for training and advising Iraqi forces so Islamic State (ISIS) militants cannot reconstitute.
“This will be an important opportunity to discuss our mutual interests across a range of fields from security to culture, trade, and climate,” Psaki said in a statement.
“The meetings will further clarify that coalition forces are in Iraq solely for the purpose of training and advising Iraqi forces to ensure that ISIS cannot reconstitute,” she added.
The talks, which began in June under the Trump administration, would be the first under U.S. President Joe Biden, who assumed office in January.
Iraqi officials confirmed they had sent a formal request to Biden’s administration for a date to resume strategic talks on bilateral relations and the withdrawal of remaining U.S. combat forces, AP cited Iraqi officials as saying.
So far, two sessions of strategic talks have been held – in June and August. Among the issues on the agenda laid out ahead of the talks were the presence of U.S. troops in the country, militia groups acting outside of state authority and Iraq’s dire economic crisis, AP reported.
According to the Pentagon, the number of U.S. troops in Iraq has dropped to about 2,500 over the past months.
*This story was updated at 09:26 a.m. (EBL time) on Wednesday
