Iraqi armed groups are no longer calling for the withdrawal of US troops and allies after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, Iraqi and US officials say.
Iraq and the United States signed an agreement last year to begin the phased withdrawal of US troops and the international coalition against ISIS in September.
Armed groups and political parties close to Iran in Iraq have been strongly calling for the withdrawal of US troops, especially after the start of the Gaza war.
When the agreement was signed to end the mission of the international coalition, Iraqi leaders said the threat of ISIS was under control and they no longer needed Washington’s help to strike its remaining cells.
But the fall of Assad on December 8, 2024 at the hands of the Syrian Liberation Council (SLF) and its allies, a Sunni Islamist group, has prompted some pro-Iranian Shiite armed groups in Iraq to review their stance towards the United States. which includes a large pro-Iranian party.
The fall of Iran’s ally Assad has weakened Tehran’s dominance in the region and made Iraqi armed groups feel threatened. In Iraq, many fear that the security vacuum in Syria will be exploited by ISIS to reorganize, return and pose a threat to Iraq, as the new Syrian authorities are reorganizing and forming a new army.
“As a result of what happened in Syria, most of the leaders of the coordination framework are in favor of US troops staying in Iraq and they don’t want the Americans to leave It will collapse.
A number of other Iraqi political and security leaders, who declined to be named, told the agency.
“It is not in Iraq’s interest to call for the withdrawal of the United States and the international coalition at this time,” a senior Iraqi national security official told a government meeting Don’t withdraw.
Another Iraqi defense official said that since Assad’s fall, Iraqi government officials have “officially at the highest level” called for the end of the international coalition mission and the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq to be postponed.
According to the official, Iraqis are afraid and think that now that the former Syrian army has left behind a lot of weapons scattered, ISIL can use them to return to its former stronghold and resume attacks in Iraq.
“The resurgence of ISIS is not guaranteed, but it is a good possibility,” the official said.
So far, the Iraqi government has not publicly discussed the possibility of extending the mission of the international coalition. “The timetable between Iraq and the international coalition has not changed,” Iraqi government spokesman Bassem Awadi said Friday.
Baghdad must make an official request to extend the stay of US and allied troops in Iraq, but it is unclear how much the government is willing to do so.
The Hashd al-Shaabi, which consists of mostly pro-Iranian armed groups, fought against the militant group during its invasion of Iraq.
Rinad Mansour, a senior researcher at the Royal Institute of Research (Chatham House), said that although there was no “active coordination” between the Hashdi Shaabi and the United States at the time, “they were both fighting the same enemy.
During the Gaza war, some groups carried out drone attacks on US bases in southern and western Kurdistan, Iraq and Syria. They have not launched any attacks since Assad fell.
Rinad Mansour says the fears and anxieties that have emerged in Iraq since the fall of Assad stem from the country’s history. Many current Iraqi leaders remember the turbulent years that followed the fall of Saddam Hussein.
“The motivation behind the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq was that the war against ISIS was over and the region was stable. After the regime change in Syria, this interpretation changed And the Iraqi government is very serious.”
