Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell issues statement on end of US military mission in Iraq

The United States and its coalition partners formally ended Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq today, in line with the September 2024 U.S.-Iraq joint statement and U.S. national interests.

The departure of coalition forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base capped a military mission credited with defeating ISIS in Iraq. The conclusion is presented as the culmination of a 12-year campaign that dismantled ISIS as an organized military threat in Iraq and across the region, and as a shift from a wartime coalition posture to an Iraqi-led security effort within a more routine bilateral security framework.

Iraqi Security Forces—among them the Peshmerga and other security elements in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region—are expected to take the lead in securing the country and keeping ISIS remnants suppressed.

The Department of War will continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support to Iraqi partners.

Responsibility for addressing remaining security challenges, including ISIS remnants and Iran-aligned militias viewed as undermining Iraqi sovereignty and regional stability, now rests with the Government of Iraq. The United States maintains its counterterrorism commitment and plans to keep working with Iraq and other partners to prevent ISIS from reconstituting from Iraqi territory.

U.S. support includes backing a strong, sovereign Iraq that can secure its borders, protect its population, and serve as a foundation for expanded commercial, diplomatic, and security cooperation between the two countries.