An Iraqi expert and adviser to the Center for European Counter-Terrorism Studies stressed that a full US withdrawal from Iraq is a priority for Baghdad’s strategic talks with Washington.
Emad Alou, a retired brigadier general and adviser to the Center for European Studies against Terrorism, said the strategic talks between Baghdad and Washington would resume this week and that the issue of security was of particular importance.
In an interview with the Iraqi National News Agency (Nina), Alou stressed that the talks on security would focus specifically on the withdrawal of US troops and the fight against ISIS, and that US withdrawal would be a priority.
Earlier, Badr al-Zayadi, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s Security and Defense Committee, said that a new round of strategic Baghdad-Washington talks would resume on the seventh of this month (April 18).
He said the new round of talks would focus on economic, political and security issues.
The Baghdad-Washington Strategic Dialogue was held in video conference in June 2020, and the two sides stressed the importance of strategic relations and efforts to make appropriate decisions in the interests of the two countries and to achieve regional security and stability.
In January of last year, the United States targeted and martyred General Haj Qassem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the deputy head of al-Hashd al-Shabi, along with their forces near Baghdad airport. In response, the Iraqi parliament approved a plan to expel US troops from the country.