Iran Backs Iraqi Call to End Presence of US-Led Force
Tehran — Iran on Monday threw its weight behind calls from neighboring Iraq to oust the U.S.-led anti-jihadi coalition from its territory after a U.S. strike killed a pro-Iran commander in Baghdad.
"Regarding Iraq and the actions that the American government took recently, the Iraqi government has clearly announced its position," foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani told a press conference.
Iran is confident that its neighbor has "the ability, strength and authority necessary to maintain security" on its territory alone, Kanani said.
"We have repeatedly expressed our views to the authorities of the countries of the region, including Iraq, and declared that the presence of American forces in any form whatsoever... would not help to maintain stability and peace," he said.
The Pentagon said Monday it was not currently planning to withdraw its roughly 2,500 troops from Iraq, despite Baghdad's announcement last week it would begin the process of removing the U.S.-led military coalition from the country.
"Right now, I'm not aware of any plans (to plan for withdrawal). We continue to remain very focused on the defeat ISIS mission," Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder told a news briefing, using an acronym for Islamic State. He added that U.S. forces are in Iraq at the invitation of its government.
Ryder said he was also unaware of any notification by Baghdad to the Department of Defense about a decision to remove U.S. troops and referred reporters to the U.S. State Department for any diplomatic discussions on the matter.
A U.S. drone strike Thursday killed a military commander and another member of Harakat al-Nujaba, a faction of Hashed al-Shaabi — a collection of mainly pro-Iran former paramilitary units now integrated into Iraq's armed forces.
Washington called the attack in Baghdad an act of self-defense, but Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani's government decried it as an act of "blatant aggression" by the U.S.-led coalition.
Sudani said Friday he was determined to "put an end" to the anti-jihadi coalition.
His government relies on support from Tehran-aligned parties, and he has repeatedly said in recent weeks he would like to see foreign troops leave Iraq.
Regional tensions are soaring, with the repercussions of the Israel-Hamas war being increasingly felt in Iraq and across the Middle East.
U.S. and other coalition forces in Iraq, deployed since 2014 in the fight against the Islamic State group (IS), have come under regular attack since the fighting erupted on October 7 between Israel and Iran-backed Palestinian group Hamas.
Washington says there have been more than 100 attacks on its forces in Iraq and neighboring Syria since mid-October.
Most have been claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups that oppose American support for Israel in the Gaza war.
The United States has around 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of the multinational coalition set up at the height of IS's territorial gains. Other coalition partners include France, Spain and Britain.
In late 2017 Iraq declared victory over IS, but remaining jihadi cells in remote northern areas continue to launch sporadic attacks.