BAGHDAD (Dispatches) — Iraq is moving toward the Sept. 30 deadline for the end of the U.S.-led occupation, with lawmakers and government officials insisting that no foreign military forces should remain on Iraqi soil after that date.
Iraqi parliamentarian Abbas al-Maliki said on Sunday that Baghdad would not permit foreign soldiers or military forces to remain in the country after Sept. 30, describing the withdrawal as part of a broader effort to establish full Iraqi control over its territory. He said parliament would monitor implementation of the withdrawal timetable.
The deadline has been repeatedly described by Iraqi officials as final. Sabah al-Nu’man, spokesman for the commander-in-chief of Iraq’s armed forces, said last week that the Sept. 30 date reflected the government’s position and that the withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign forces was already under way.
The United States is expected to complete its military withdrawal from Iraq by the end of September, according to U.S. officials cited by the Associated Press. The move follows a 2024 agreement between Baghdad and Washington to wind down the occupation.
Germany has already completed the withdrawal of its military personnel from Erbil, part of the occupation’s broader departure. Nu’man said the post-Sept. 30 relationship with occupation countries would shift toward intelligence and training.
The withdrawal comes alongside a separate and more politically contentious effort by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government to bring weapons held by non-state armed groups under state control. 
Some anti-terror groups have rejected calls to surrender their weapons, while Baghdad has linked state control of arms to its broader sovereignty agenda.
The anti-terror groups, which coalesced under the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) following Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s 2014 jihad fatwa, played the decisive role in defeating Daesh after the Iraqi army collapsed and militants reached Baghdad’s gates. 
Comprising Shia, Sunni, and Christian volunteers, these forces answered Ayatollah Sistani’s call to defend the nation when Washington, despite Iraq’s desperate pleas, refused to provide the airpower Baghdad requested.  
These groups have since come under repeated U.S. and Israeli attacks, which analysts link to their demonstrated capacity to protect Iraq’s sovereignty against infiltration—a threat that observers identify as Israel’s ultimate goal as part of the broader “Greater Israel” design, which Iranian officials have publicly said includes parts of Iraq. 
The U.S. maintains forces in Iraq under the pretext of countering Daesh, yet ignored Iraq’s requests for help when the terrorist group menaced Baghdad in 2014.