Iraq PM Declares No US Troops Left, Arms State-Only by 2027
Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi told a state news agency that the departure of foreign forces has stripped armed factions of the argument they long used to justify keeping their arms. He described the government’s decision to confine weapons to state institutions as final and irreversible.
“By June 30, 2027, there will be no weapons outside the framework of the state,” he said.
The government has struck agreements on the weapons of three armed factions and is in talks with four more to complete the process, Al-Zaidi said.
“Iraq is a state that has factions, not factions that own a state,” he added.
Al-Zaidi warned that Iraq had once come within days of international isolation, including the possible exit of foreign embassies and the imposition of restrictions. Western governments, he said, had come to believe that certain armed groups had effectively seized control of the state, a threat he said his government had overcome.
Strategic partnership with US
Even with US troops gone, Al-Zaidi said Baghdad remains committed to deepening its strategic partnership with Washington. Iraq chose the United States as a partner, he said, for its technological and economic strengths. US companies have already started work in the country and are carrying out projects in areas of bilateral cooperation, he said.
He added that the partnership, combined with the growth of Iraq’s energy sector, would significantly increase the country’s regional and international influence compared with previous years.
US troop withdrawal
The exit follows a September 2024 agreement between Baghdad and Washington on a phased pullout of US-led coalition forces, with the military mission due to end this September. On Sept. 30, Iraq announced the close of the coalition’s military mission, and the Pentagon confirmed that coalition personnel and equipment had left Erbil Air Base.
According to a news agency, the withdrawal shifted the relationship from the coalition’s military mission against the terror group ISIS (Daesh) to security cooperation, including training and intelligence sharing.
Regional tensions
On regional developments, Al-Zaidi said Iraq would stay out of any war and remain a meeting point for opposing parties. However events unfolded, he said, the regional crisis would ultimately have to end in an agreement.
He ruled out closing Iraq’s border with Iran, warning the move would hurt both countries.
“Closing the border with Iran means economically besieging ourselves,” he said.
Oil exports and the Strait of Hormuz
Iraq is working to build a network of oil export pipelines to cut its reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, where maritime navigation has been disrupted, Al-Zaidi said. The government is also seeking to reactivate the export route through Türkiye’s Ceyhan port and diversify its outlets.
“The Hormuz crisis has deprived Iraq of benefiting from rising oil prices,” he said, noting that Iraqi oil exports had swung between suspension and resumption because of regional conditions.
The prime minister also announced plans to raise Iraq’s oil production capacity to 10 million barrels per day by 2032.
He called the Development Road project with Türkiye Iraq’s “third river,” and said construction would start once parliament approves the budget. The project is intended to create a major transportation corridor linking Iraq’s southern ports to Türkiye and on to European markets.
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