Iraq says coalition headquarters to close by Sept. 30, citing stable security

Iraq reiterated Saturday that the headquarters of the US-led international coalition will close on Sept. 30, saying its security situation is stable and its armed forces are in control of the entire country.

“On Sept. 30, the international coalition headquarters will close, and there are no foreign military bases on our territory,” Abdul Amir al-Shammari, director of the office of Iraq’s aremd forces commander-in-chief, said in remarks carried by the state-run Iraqi News Agency on US social media company X.

“Our security situation is good. We control all Iraqi territory, and there is no concern over the country’s security,” he added.

The US-led coalition, which includes countries such as France and Spain, was formed in 2014 to fight the terror group ISIS (Daesh), which at the time controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria.

In September 2024, Washington and Baghdad announced a two-phase plan to end the coalition’s military mission in Iraq.

The first phase was initially due to conclude by September 2025 but extended into January 2026, when Baghdad announced that US forces had completed their withdrawal from Ain al-Asad Air Base in the western Anbar province and that the Iraqi army had taken control of the site.

Under phase two, which runs through the end of this month, the coalition’s military mission in Syria continued to operate from an air base in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil.

On Aug. 26, Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for Iraq’s commander-in-chief, said Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi had ordered the formation of a committee to determine the shape of Iraq’s relationship with coalition countries after Sept. 30.

He said future ties would include continued coordination and cooperation, particularly on intelligence, information-sharing, and arms programs.