US President Donald Trump and his Iraqi counterpart, Barham Salih, confirmed - during a meeting held in Switzerland - the continuation of the security and military partnership between the two countries, and their statements were clear of any indication of the possibility of withdrawing American forces from Iraq, against the background of the assassination of the Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani, earlier this month.
In a joint press conference after the meeting held today, Wednesday, on the sidelines of the Davos International Forum, Trump said that his government will continue military cooperation with Iraq and work with it against the Islamic State.
He added that his country will continue its military cooperation with Iraq as it has worked and is still working on that, stressing that the relationship between the two countries is in the best condition.
In a statement issued later today, the White House said that the two Presidents agreed on the importance of continuing the economic and security partnership between the United States and Iraq, including the fight against the Islamic State.
In turn, Saleh said that his country has a partnership with the United States on combating IS, adding that this task must be completed.
In a statement published by his office, the Iraqi president affirmed his country's keenness to establish balanced relations with all friends and allies in a manner that strengthens its sovereignty and respects its independent decision and realizes the interests of the Iraqi people.
The statement said that the two sides examined the presence and reduction of foreign forces in the country, and the importance of respecting the demands of the Iraqi people in preserving national sovereignty, security and stability.
The Iraqi statement quoted the American President as supporting Washington's stability in Iraq and its keenness to strengthen joint relations and expand the volume of cooperation between the two countries.
After the assassination of Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, in a raid by the American army in the vicinity of Baghdad Airport; the Iraqi parliament adopted a resolution calling for the withdrawal of the American forces, whose number exceeds five thousand soldiers, and called on Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi and Washington to put mechanisms to implement pulling out.
But the US Department of State and Defense confirmed that there are no plans to withdraw American forces from Iraq. Before that, the US President threatened Baghdad with sanctions if it came under American soldiers.
The meeting between the American and Iraqi presidents comes two days before a massive demonstration called by the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, to demand the exit of 5,200 American soldiers who are in Iraq.
The Iraqi "Hezbollah Brigades" faction threatened to expel the Iraqi president from Baghdad if he met his American counterpart in Davos.