US troop withdrawal from Iraq set for September 30
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced that US troops will fully withdraw by September 30, linking the move to disarming Iran-backed militias, while President Trump emphasized future economic deals.
United States troops are set to fully withdraw from Iraq by September 30, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said after a meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday. Trump stated at the White House that the military presence is no longer needed.
Initially, around 2,500 US troops were deployed in Iraq for counter-Islamic State operations, but that number has declined in recent months. US forces remain in Erbil in the Kurdish region, at a base near Baghdad airport, and in the capital’s government district known as the Green Zone.
Al-Zaidi’s government has tied the planned withdrawal to the disarming of powerful Iran-backed militias. "On September 30th, American forces will leave, and American companies will enter. After September 30, we will not allow any entity to bear arms outside the state," Zaidi said.
Trump said the US will do "lots of deals" with Iraq. The main focus of al-Zaidi’s trip is securing major US investment in Iraq’s oil, gas, and power sectors. During the Oval Office meeting, al-Zaidi previewed an announcement of an "economic partnership" between the two countries. Trump noted Iraq’s tremendous potential due to its oil: "We’re going to be doing a lot of deals. We’re going to create a lot of jobs for both countries, and we’re going to be taking out a lot of oil."
Two Iraqi officials said Iraq, Chevron, TI Capital, and Qatar’s UCC are set to sign a deal Friday to build a 2-million-barrel-per-day oil pipeline linking Basra to Haditha and extending to ports in Turkey and Syria.
