Due to recent events,The international coalition mission's end announcement will be postponed. Said MOFA

Baghdad - INA

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced, today, Thursday, the postponement of the announcement of the end of the international coalition mission in Iraq due to recent developments while confirming the absence of American forces in the country.

The Ministry's Special Media Office said in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "The official spokesman for the US State Department gave an inaccurate answer in response to a question from a journalist. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to clarify that there are no US forces in Iraq except for military advisors under the supervision of the international coalition, and these are included in the outcomes of the work of the Supreme Military Committee, and both parties are committed to the mechanisms followed and their outcomes."

He added that "the work of the Supreme Military Committee has focused during the past months on assessing the danger of the terrorist ISIS gangs; to reach a date to end the military mission of Operation Inherent Resolve," noting that "the presence of international coalition advisors of all nationalities on Iraqi soil will be ended, according to discussions that included the order of withdrawal of advisors from the sites, and all that remains is to agree on the details and date of the announcement and some other logistical aspects." 

He continued, "The announcement of the end of the military mission of the international coalition in Iraq has been postponed due to recent developments."

He explained that "the bilateral relationship with the United States included all areas, including the security relationship, and that this relationship existed before the presence of the coalition forces and will continue after it," explaining that "the Iraqi delegation had previously discussed the future of the security relationship in the areas of training, armament, equipment and security cooperation, in light of what is permitted by the Iraqi constitution and the framework of the strategic agreement between Iraq and the United States."