Broad consensus in Iraq on pullout of US-led foreign forces: Top security official

Araji made the remarks on the sidelines of the sixth Baghdad International Dialogue Conference on Saturday.

“Our security forces have developed greatly and gained great experience in dealing with the challenges of terrorism,” the top Iraqi security official added, noting that the Baghdad government extends its gratitude to the countries that helped it confront terrorism.

“There is a consensus on the withdrawal of foreign forces. The Iraqi government will sign bilateral security agreements with the countries that are part of the [US-led] coalition against the Daesh terrorist group,” Araji pointed out.

Iraq adopted the law to expel foreign forces after Washington’s assassination of top Iraqi and Iranian anti-terror commanders four years ago.

General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), were martyred along with their comrades in a US drone strike that was authorized by then-president Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.

The two iconic anti-terror commanders are greatly admired for their instrumental role in fighting and decimating the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and neighboring Syria.