US and coalition forces complete military withdrawal from Iraq after 23 years

Completion of the coalition pullout

The United States and international coalition partners concluded their military mission in Iraq on 30 September 2026. The exit follows an agreement reached in 2024 under former US President Joe Biden, which President Donald Trump's administration carried out. Italy completed the withdrawal of its own remaining contingent on 29 September 2026, ending 12 years of military presence in the country. The final phase of the departure saw coalition forces leave their last remaining position at Erbil airport in the Kurdistan region after vacating Syria earlier in 2026. Iraqi authorities designated 1 October 2026 as Sovereignty Day, launching four days of national celebrations to mark the complete exit of foreign forces.

Regional redeployment and reactions

Prior to the final drawdown, approximately 1,500 combined US and coalition personnel operated inside Iraq. Departing American units are relocating to Jordan, where the Pentagon maintains operational headquarters to target Islamic State militants across the region. Iranian officials and allied armed groups welcomed the coalition's departure. Amir Hayat Moqaddam, vice president of the Iranian Parliament's National Security Commission, stated that Tehran approved of the exit. Abu Mojtaba al-Yasiri, a commander in the Iran-aligned Islamic Resistance in Iraq, celebrated the conclusion of the foreign deployment.

On September 30, we will celebrate the turning of a black page in Iraq's history and the failure of the occupation to impose its will on our country.

Militia disarmament and state authority

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has framed the coalition departure as an opportunity to consolidate state authority and disarm non-state armed groups. Taking office in spring 2026, al-Zaidi set an initial deadline of 30 September 2026 for pro-Iran factions to yield their weapons, while establishing an expanded roadmap to disarm all domestic militias by June 2027. Former US ambassador Douglas Silliman stated that al-Zaidi aims to remove the primary political justification armed factions use to maintain independent command structures. Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, al-Zaidi outlined his government's plan to transition international partnerships away from military engagement.

With the end of the international coalition's mission in Iraq, we are moving our relationship with our strategic partners to a new phase, moving from military cooperation to economic and development cooperation in service of our common interests.

Security concerns and historical toll

The departure concludes more than two decades of US military involvement that began with the 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. US troop levels reached a peak of roughly 170,000 personnel in 2007 before an initial withdrawal in 2011, followed by a return in 2014 to combat the Islamic State alongside Iraqi forces. In this year's conflict with Iran, 7 of 18 US service member fatalities occurred in Iraq, including an army sergeant killed during a drone detonation near Erbil in July. Figures from Brown University's Cost of War Project document that 4,599 US service members and up to 210,000 Iraqi civilians died between 2003 and 2023, with total expenditures exceeding $2.8 trillion. Abdulrahman al-Zobaie, a Sunni tribal leader in Fallujah, expressed concern regarding the preparedness of local forces.

All Iraqis aspire to full sovereignty, and no Iraqi would dispute that. But I believe that the (US-led coalition) leaving in this way and creating a vacuum is what all Iraqis fear.