Iraq's prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, has announced that all United States troops and the multinational coalition will withdraw from Iraq by September 2026, citing the diminished threat from Islamist terror groups. He emphasized that the presence of foreign forces is a key obstacle to bringing all weapons under state control, as some Iraqi factions view the coalition as an occupying force. Sudani stated that once the coalition departs, there will be a clear program to ensure that all arms are held only by state institutions, encouraging armed groups to either join official security forces or enter politics. The phased withdrawal of American troops has already begun, and the prime minister expressed confidence that Iraq's situation is distinct from other regional conflicts involving non-state armed groups.