Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaidi announced in a public statement that international coalition forces will withdraw from Iraq on September 30.

The announcement came as the prime minister met with US Central Command Commander Gen. Brad Cooper in Baghdad. "Oct. 1 would mark a new day in Iraq's statehood," al-Zaidi said, as quoted by Yeni Şafak.

"On September 30, it will be time for the international coalition forces to withdraw from Iraq," he further added, as quoted by Kurdistan24. "With this, Iraqis will declare the completion of their formal sovereignty over the entirety of their national territory."

The prime minister also signalled a clear position on regional security, stating that Iraq would not permit its territory to be used against neighbouring or other countries. "Iraq must not become a staging ground for inflicting harm on other countries," he said, a formulation that positions Baghdad as seeking to insulate itself from the proxy dynamics that have repeatedly drawn Iraqi soil into wider regional confrontations.

While the agreement appears to remain in effect, tensions rose in late July when US and Saudi forces struck Iran-aligned militia sites in eastern Iraq in response to drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities

Zaidi said his government had pledged upon taking office to build a fully sovereign state while pursuing reform and reinforcing national institutions. He expressed appreciation for Iraq's supreme religious authority for its guidance on protecting national security and social peace.

Turning to the broader region, Zaidi argued that decades of tensions had deepened divisions among Arab and Islamic states, and called for greater unity in regional decision-making.

This move appears to symbolise a shift in the United States’ Middle East strategic focus, with the Trump administration fixated on Iran. 

US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson announced that the war with Iran is set to enter a new phase. “I think we’re going to get into a new phase here very soon. I believe our allied nations are going to assist in the next phase, and we’ll get it finished,” Johnson told Fox News.

Should Johnson’s assertion prove correct, then it would appear that the Trump administration has shifted its strategic calculus. Despite Iran-backed militias in Iraq entering the war on the side of Iran, the withdrawal from Iraq signals not only a strengthening of Iraqi-US relations but a realignment of American attention on the region, with the US increasing its focus on the Iranian regime.