The Iraqi Nujaba Movement announced on Tuesday that the ceasefire, which was intended to give the government time to negotiate the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country, has ended. As a result, the option to target U.S. bases in Iraq is now on the table.
Haider Al-Lami, a member of the Political Council of the Nujaba Movement, told “The National” newspaper: “The resistance factions in Iraq have ended this truce, and thus all options are available for the resistance forces to target all U.S. bases within Iraq.”
Al-Lami accused the U.S. of “stalling and procrastinating” regarding the withdrawal of its forces during the negotiations with the Iraqi government.
Calls to end the truce have been increasing in Iraq following the death of at least four Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) members in a U.S. drone strike on a base in Babel province, south of Baghdad, on July 30.
Less than a week later, rockets struck the Ain Al-Asad airbase in western Iraq, which hosts U.S. forces, injuring at least five American personnel in an attack claimed by a group called The Revolutionaries.
Al-Lami, who had warned after the Babel strike that such a response was under consideration, added, “There will be a response in the coming days that may target more than one location, not necessarily in Iraq, but also in Syria and Israel.”
In January, Iraq began talks with the United States to end the coalition mission, with Baghdad indicating its readiness to sign bilateral security agreements with individual member states.
In late July, an Iraqi delegation led by Defense Minister Thabit Al-Abbasi visited Washington to finalize the deal.
A senior government official told “The National” that Baghdad and Washington were close to announcing the agreement earlier this month, but that was delayed following the Ain Al-Asad attack.
“We had almost finished everything, and the announcement was about to happen, but then the Ain Al-Asad attack occurred,” the official said. “So, it was difficult to announce the agreement immediately, but it will be announced very soon.”
Under the agreement, U.S.-led coalition forces will begin withdrawing from their bases in Baghdad and Anbar in September.
Al-Lami mentioned that some forces will remain in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region until September 2026 to oversee counterterrorism operations in Syria.
He added, “Counterterrorism in Syria differs from that in Iraq; ISIS is stronger in Syria and has strongholds there.”
