On Sunday, the Iraqi parliament approved a non-binding resolution to remove U.S. forces from the country after President Donald Trump authorized a drone strike to kill Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani.
“The government commits to revoke its request for assistance from the international coalition fighting Islamic State due to the end of military operations in Iraq and the achievement of victory,” the resolution read, according to Reuters. “The Iraqi government must work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason.”
Calling Soleimani’s death a “political assassination,” Iraq’s caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi urged the parliament to expel U.S. and other foreign troops “for the sake of our national sovereignty.”
“The United States is disappointed by the action taken today in the Iraqi Council of Representatives,” State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said.
“While we await further clarification on the legal nature and impact of today’s resolution, we strongly urge Iraqi leaders to reconsider the importance of the ongoing economic and security relationship between the two countries and the continued presence of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS,” she continued.
Ortagus said the U.S. “remains committed to a sovereign, stable, and prosperous Iraq.”
