Iraqi Defense Minister announces US will withdraw troops from Iraq

 Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet al-Abbasi announced that they have reached an agreement with Washington for American troops to withdraw from Iraq within two years.

In an interview with the Al-Arabiya Al-Hadath television channel, al-Abbasi addressed the issue of the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

Stating that US troops will withdraw from Iraq within 2 years, al-Abbasi said, "An agreement has been reached to end the mission of the US-led coalition forces in Iraq in two phases. The first phase of withdrawal will begin this year and continue until 2025. The second phase of withdrawal will end in 2026."

Al-Abbasi also noted that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin believed that a two-year period was not sufficient for the withdrawal and requested that one more year be added, but that Baghdad refused to extend the period beyond 2 years.

Iraqi Defense Minister al-Abbasi added that the aforementioned withdrawal agreement with Washington would be signed in the coming days.