Iraq Says US Troop Drawdown Talks Will Go on ‘As Long as Nothing Disturbs the Peace of the Talks’ 

04 February 2024, Iraq, Baghdad: A member of the Iraqi's Popular Mobilization Forces stands guard during the funeral of the 16 members killed in US airstrikes. (dpa)
04 February 2024, Iraq, Baghdad: A member of the Iraqi's Popular Mobilization Forces stands guard during the funeral of the 16 members killed in US airstrikes. (dpa)
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Iraq Says US Troop Drawdown Talks Will Go on ‘As Long as Nothing Disturbs the Peace of the Talks’ 

04 February 2024, Iraq, Baghdad: A member of the Iraqi's Popular Mobilization Forces stands guard during the funeral of the 16 members killed in US airstrikes. (dpa)
04 February 2024, Iraq, Baghdad: A member of the Iraqi's Popular Mobilization Forces stands guard during the funeral of the 16 members killed in US airstrikes. (dpa)

Iraq and the US-led military coalition resumed meetings Sunday on how to draw down troops who have been deployed there for years combating the ISIS extremist group.

The first long-awaited meeting took place Jan. 27, but had since been put on pause after Iran-backed militants struck a US outpost near the Syrian-Jordanian border the very next day with a drone that killed three US service members.

In the weeks since, the US has launched multiple retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria including a strike last week that killed a high-ranking commander of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, who the US said is responsible for “directly planning and participating in attacks” on American troops in the region.

Both Iraq and the US had agreed last August to enter into talks to transition US and coalition forces from their long-standing role in assisting Iraq in combating ISIS.

There are approximately 2,500 US troops in the country, and their departure will take into account the security situation on the ground, and the capabilities of the Iraqi armed forces, the Iraq government said in a statement Sunday posted to X, formerly Twitter.

The resumed meetings will continue to chart a path to a new bilateral relationship “as long as nothing disturbs the peace of the talks,” Iraq said in its statement.

Iraq has long struggled to balance its ties with the US and Iran, both allies of the Iraqi government but regional archenemies. Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks, Iran-aligned groups have struck at US facilities in Iraq and Syria 170 times, prompting retaliatory airstrikes by the US, which blames Kataib Hezbollah for a string of those attacks.

The Iraqi government has angrily condemned US airstrikes against Kataib Hezbollah, which is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces.

The Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF, are state-sanctioned, mainly Shiite militias, which have grown into a powerful political faction estimated to have the most seats in the Iraqi parliament.

But the deaths of three US service members last month was a red line for the US and in the days following the deadly strike, Iran disavowed any knowledge or connection to the attack, and Kataib Hezbollah said it would cease launching attacks in order to not embarrass the Iraqi government.

Notably, there have been no additional strikes against US bases in Iraq since Feb. 4.



Report: Russian Government Delegation Arrives in Syria for Talks 

People stand on a balcony of the historic Hejaz train station in Damascus on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
People stand on a balcony of the historic Hejaz train station in Damascus on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
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Report: Russian Government Delegation Arrives in Syria for Talks 

People stand on a balcony of the historic Hejaz train station in Damascus on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
People stand on a balcony of the historic Hejaz train station in Damascus on January 26, 2025. (AFP)

The first Russian official delegation to visit Syria since the toppling of Moscow ally Bashar al-Assad has arrived in Damascus, Russian news agencies reported Tuesday.  

The delegation includes deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is also President Vladimir Putin's special representative on the Middle East and Africa, as well as Alexander Lavrentiev, the president's special representative on Syria, the RIA Novosti agency reported.  

It said it was "the first visit by Russian officials to Damascus" since Assad fled in December in the face of a lightning opposition advance across the country.  

Moscow was one of Assad's key backers, intervening in Syria's civil war in 2015 in his favor. He and his family fled to Russia after his ouster. 

Russia is now seeking to secure the fate of its naval base in Tartus and its air base at Hmeimim - both on Syria's Mediterranean coast and Moscow's only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union - with the new Syrian authorities.  

The group led by Syria's interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa - Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - is banned in Russia as a "terrorist" organization.  

The organization is rooted in Al-Qaeda's Syria branch but has more recently adopted a moderate tone. 

Sharaa in December noted the "deep strategic interests between Russia and Syria" in an interview with the Al-Arabiya TV channel.  

"All Syria's arms are of Russian origin, and many power plants are managed by Russian experts... We do not want Russia to leave Syria in the way that some wish," Sharaa added.  

US and Ukrainian diplomats visited Syria's new rulers in December.