Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin on Saturday, November 20, confirmed that the US military mission in Iraq will be completed by the end of this year. He said this during a meeting with Iraqi Defense Minister Juma Inad.
"Secretary Austin confirmed that U.S. forces remain in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government to support the Iraqi security forces. The United States will fulfill the obligations assumed in July 2021, including the commitment that by the end of the year there will be no American forces in Iraq performing combat missions," John Kirby, a spokesman for the US military department, said in a written statement .
The Pentagon spokesman also noted that the parties discussed the further stage of the US military mission in Iraq, which will focus on "consulting, assistance and intelligence sharing" in the framework of the campaign against the Islamic State (the terrorist organization "Islamic State", banned in Russia).
It is emphasized that Austin again condemned the recent attempt to attack the residence of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi and expressed hope that the further formation of the new government of the Arab country will proceed peacefully.
The meeting of the heads of the defense departments of the United States and Iraq took place on the sidelines of the annual international conference on regional security "Manama Dialogue" in Bahrain.
On July 26, the US State Department, in a joint statement with the Iraqi side, noted that Washington intends to stop the country's participation in military operations in Iraq by December 31, 2021.
On the same day, US President Joe Biden said that further US-Iraqi cooperation should affect the training and training of the forces of Baghdad. He stressed that the American side does not intend to participate in military operations on Iraqi territory.
