Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudan has stated that Baghdad wants a “quick and orderly withdrawal of the US military forces from Iraq.”

Baghdad is yet to set a deadline but has confirmed that the presence of the US troops is “destabilizing.”

“There is a need to re-organize [our] relationship [with Washington] so that it is not a target or justification for any party, internal or foreign, to tamper with stability in Iraq and the region,” Sudani said.

The Iraqi prime Minister has, on multiple occasions, said that Baghdad will never accept foreign troops nor armed factions in Iraq. 

The Iraqi government “informed the American side of the necessity of starting negotiations on a timetable for the withdrawal of international coalition forces from the country.” 

The spokesperson for the Iraqi prime minister, Dhia al-Nasiri, confirmed on Jan. 9 that Baghdad had alerted Washington on the need to commence negotiations to facilitate the withdrawal of US forces from the country. 

“A timetable is currently being formulated to reduce the number of coalition forces and foreign military advisors working in Iraq,” Nasiri added. “A higher military committee is scheduled to begin re-evaluating the country’s military and security situation, evaluating the capabilities of the Iraqi forces, and examining plans to enhance these capabilities.” 

“The ability of the security forces to confront what remains of the IS.IS threat in Iraq will also be assessed,” the spokesperson said. “These internal assessments will determine the course of negotiation regarding the withdrawal schedule of the international coalition forces, its details, the number and quality of forces, advisors, and the method of their withdrawal.” 

This comes a day after Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid told the country’s US ambassador, Alena Romanowski, that the “US presence in Iraq must be limited to an advisory role.”

The Iraqi Resistance has attacked US bases in Iraq and Syria multiple times since October 2023, the month that marked the beginning of the Israeli Regime’s onslaught on Gaza. The attacks come as a form of retaliation against the occupation entity and in solidarity with the Occupied Palestinians. The attacks are also a way of hastening the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. 

Washington has retaliated with a number of violent airstrikes on Iraq and it’s capita; Baghdad has repeatedly condemned these airstrikes and has simultaneously criticized the attacks of the resistance on US bases.

The US invaded Iraq in 2003 and has since killed more than 250,000 to a million people after the then former president George W. Bush claimed that the country had “weapons of mass destruction,” but found none after kill.ing hundreds of thousands Iraqis.