The United States-led military coalition formally ended its mission in Iraq and began withdrawing its forces on September 30, 2026, marking the conclusion of an operation launched in 2014 to defeat the Islamic State group, news.detik.com reported. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) swiftly hailed the departure as a historical victory, while U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Washington could send troops back if necessary.
IRGC Declares Victory as U.S. Coalition Ends Mission
The U.S.-led coalition was originally deployed to Iraq and Syria in 2014 to combat ISIS, which had seized large swathes of strategic territory and carried out massacres. While ISIS was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019, coalition forces remained stationed in the country to hunt down remaining militant cells. Baghdad and Washington reached a formal agreement in 2024 to wind down the mission. Personnel began pulling out gradually from bases across Iraq, leaving a limited remaining footprint restricted to the autonomous Kurdistan region in the north, according to news.detik.com.
In an official statement published by state media, the IRGC congratulated the Iraqi people and regional resistance movements on the withdrawal. The ideological branch of the Iranian military labeled two decades of American occupation a source of insecurity, terror, and instability in West Asia, demanding that the U.S. completely vacate the wider region and leave security management to local nations.
Trump Leaves Door Open for Future Deployments
Speaking at a White House event on September 30, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump described the departure as a good day for America, noting that the military equipment was preserved and the withdrawal was conducted in an orderly fashion. Earlier, Pentagon officials confirmed that Operation Inherent Resolve had officially concluded, handing security responsibilities over to the Iraqi armed forces while retaining limited intelligence sharing and military training assistance.
Trump also stated that the U.S. could deploy forces back to Iraq if the situation required it, offering assistance should new security threats emerge, as reported by ANTARA News Central Sulawesi.
Iraqi Security Concerns and the Shift in Regional Influence
According to Kompas.id, the departure removes a long-standing military presence that acted as a counterweight to Tehran’s influence in Iraq, allowing Iran and its aligned armed factions to expand their political and security footprint. Abu Mojtaba al-Yasiri, a commander within the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, celebrated the date as the end of a dark chapter, asserting that Iraq’s sovereignty is protected by local resistance rather than foreign troops.
At the same time, local leaders expressed apprehension regarding the timeline. Abdulrahman al-Zobaie, a tribal leader in Fallujah, told Kompas.id that many citizens fear Iraq is not yet fully prepared to shoulder total security responsibilities independently. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government hopes the withdrawal eliminates the rationale for Iran-backed armed factions to retain independent arsenals. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi set a deadline of June 30 next year for all armed groups to surrender their weapons to the state.
What Happens Next for Iraq’s Armed Factions
The central question facing Baghdad is whether armed factions backed by Iran will comply with Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s June 30 deadline to hand over their weapons, or if the power vacuum left by the coalition will intensify domestic political friction as regional actors compete for control.
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