Former Iraqi Prime Minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who served between 2018 and 2020, has urged the Baghdad government to take decisive steps towards terminating the United States' mission in Iraq. Speaking in an interview with Iran's Arabic-language television news network Al-Alam TV on Saturday, Abdul-Mahdi emphasized the need for the Iraqi government to clearly announce the end of the US mission within a specified timeframe.

Abdul-Mahdi highlighted that American forces initially entered Iraq based on a decision made by the Iraqi government and emphasized that they should now leave in accordance with Iraq's notification. He referenced the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, based on false allegations of weapons of mass destruction, and the subsequent military campaign against the Takfiri terrorist group of Daesh in 2014 as examples of prolonged US involvement in the region.

Despite the US military's claim of ending its combat mission in Iraq in 2021, Abdul-Mahdi stressed that the presence of some 2,500 troops as alleged advisors is unwarranted, especially after the defeat of Daesh in late 2017 by Iraqi forces and their allies.

Abdul-Mahdi's tenure also saw the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a US drone strike, leading to a legislative mandate for the departure of all foreign forces from Iraq. He noted that while the intervention was necessary during his interim government, the current Iraqi government has the authority to expel foreign forces without external intervention.

"The Americans came to [supposedly] support the Iraqis, and now they are killing them," Abdul-Mahdi remarked, underscoring the urgency for Iraq to assert its sovereignty and end foreign military presence.