Iraq–United States relations

Diplomatic relations between Iraq and the United States began when the U.S. first recognized Iraq on January 9, 1930, with the signing of the Anglo-American-Iraqi Convention in London by Charles G. Dawes, U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. The historiography of Iraq—United States relations prior to the 1980s is considered relatively underdeveloped, with the first in-depth academic studies being published in the 2010s. Today, the United States and Iraq both consider themselves as strategic partners, given the American political and military involvement after the invasion of Iraq and their mutual, deep-rooted relationship that followed. The United States provides the Iraqi security forces hundreds of millions of dollars of military aid and training annually as well as uses its military bases.

In January 2020, Iraq voted to ask the U.S. and its coalition members to withdraw all of their troops from the country after the assassinations of Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani (the second most powerful figure in Iran) and PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (one of Iraq's most powerful men). Following the vote, U.S. president Donald Trump initially refused to withdraw from Iraq, but began withdrawing forces in March 2020. On 26 July 2021, U.S. president Joe Biden announced that the American combat mission in Iraq would conclude by the end of 2021 and the remaining U.S. troops in the country would shift to an advisory role.

History

Ottoman Empire

American commercial interaction with the Ottoman Empire (which included the area that later became modern Iraq) began in the late 18th century. In 1831, Chargé d'Affaires David Porter became the first American diplomat in the Ottoman Empire, at the capital city of Constantinople. With the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the United States supported Great Britain's administration of Iraq as a mandate, but insisted that it be groomed for independence, rather than remain a colony.