Iraq PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi to focus on US troop withdrawal in meeting with Joe Biden
- The White House talks on Monday between the two allies come just a week after a deadly attack claimed by Islamic State
- Al-Kadhimi is under intense pressure from pro-Tehran armed factions who demand the withdrawal of 2,500 US troops still deployed in Iraq
The White House talks between the two allies come just a week after a deadly attack on July 20 claimed by Islamic State group, despite Baghdad declaring the Sunni extremists defeated over three years ago.
Al-Kadhimi finds himself backed into a corner by the influence of Iraq’s other main ally – neighbouring Iran, which has long seen the United States as its arch-nemesis.
Despite shared enmity on the part of the US and Shiite Iran toward a resilient Islamic State, al-Kadhimi is under intense pressure from pro-Tehran armed factions who demand the withdrawal of 2,500 US troops still deployed in Iraq.
Operating under the Hashed al-Shaabi, a paramilitary network whose tentacles extend deep into the state, these Shiite factions stand accused of carrying out around 50 rocket and drone attacks this year against US interests in Iraq.