Iran hails ‘expulsion’ of US from Iraq, says it marks beginning of broader regional withdrawal

Iran hails ‘expulsion’ of US from Iraq, says it marks beginning of broader regional withdrawal

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say US should leave the region and let its countries’ peoples manage their own security

Ikram Kouachi

01 October 2026•Update: 01 October 2026

ISTANBUL

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday hailed the “expulsion” of the US from Iraq, saying the move marks the beginning of a broader US withdrawal from the region.

In a statement marking the completion of the US withdrawal from Iraq, the IRGC said the development was “the herald of West Asia’s liberation from the yoke of the Great Satan’s domination.”

The IRGC said the US departure from Iraq was the result of the “will of the Iraqi people,” as well as "resistance and action by the Iraqi government," describing it as a “historic victory.”

It called on Washington to leave the region and “leave the management of security to the peoples of its countries.”

The statement said the US presence in Iraq “lasted for two decades” and was a “first step toward the full expulsion of American forces” from the region.

On Wednesday, the US Defense Department said the US and its coalition partners “formally concluded Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq,” while the “orderly departure” of coalition forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base marked the conclusion of the military mission.

Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said the 12-year campaign “defeated ISIS as an organized military threat in Iraq and across the region.”

Baghdad and Washington agreed in September 2024 to end the coalition’s military mission in Iraq under a timetable extending through the end of September 2026, with a transition to bilateral security relations between Iraq and member states.

The coalition was formed under US leadership in 2014 after ISIS (Daesh) seized large areas of Iraq and Syria, providing Iraqi forces with air, intelligence and training support during operations against the group.

Iraq announced in December 2017 that it had regained full control of territory seized by ISIS.

American forces first invaded Iraq in 2003 to remove Saddam Hussein, and withdrew at the end of 2011.

Iran hails ‘expulsion’ of US from Iraq, says it marks beginning of broader regional withdrawal