U.S. President Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister al-Kadhimi agree to change U.S. role in Iraq during White House meeting

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On his second visit to the White House since taking office, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, accompanied by a high-level delegation, travelled to Washington, D.C. to discuss with U.S. President Joe Biden the future status of U.S. forces in Iraq.

During the meeting, PM al-Kadhimi and President Biden signed an agreement to formally change the status of U.S. forces in Iraq by the end of this year. Biden explained that the role of his country’s forces in Iraq will focus on helping train Iraqi forces and supporting them in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS).

Meanwhile, Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Sadrist movement in Iraq and known for his hardline approach, stressed that the military action of the resistance against U.S. forces must be stopped after the conditions for their withdrawal from Iraq were met.

This came in a press release in which he said that the U.S. occupation announced the start of the withdrawal of its forces, urged his followers to wait for the completion of the withdrawal, and thanked PM alKadhimi for his efforts to reach the agreement with the U.S. He added that the resistance should support the Iraqi Security Forces to restore security in the country.