The United States deploys 2,500 soldiers in Iraq (Anadolu Agency)
Reuters quoted four sources yesterday, Wednesday, that the United States and Iraq are about to begin talks aimed at ending the mission of the US-led military coalition and how to replace it with bilateral relations.
Three sources said that with this step, the United States dropped preconditions that Iranian-backed Iraqi armed factions stop attacks on them first.
Two sources confirmed that the United States conveyed its readiness to begin talks to the Iraqi government in a letter delivered by the US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski, to Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Wednesday.
The Ministry stated that it had received an important message, and that Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani would study it carefully.
For its part, the American CNN network quoted sources it described as informed that the United States and Iraq are expected to soon begin talks about the future of the American military presence in the country.
Talks about the future of the US military presence have now become more urgent amid broader regional instability, and amid increasing public calls by the Iraqi government for the United States to withdraw its forces from the country.
The talks are expected to take several months, if not longer, but their outcome is not clear, and the withdrawal of US forces is not imminent.
The United States deploys 2,500 military personnel in Iraq to provide advice and assistance to its forces to prevent the re-emergence of ISIS after it took control of vast areas of the country in 2014 before being defeated by the Iraqi army.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies