ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq and the United States announced the formation of a high-level joint committee to strengthen security coordination and prevent attacks against US presence and Iraqi forces amid the ongoing regional war, according to a joint statement on Friday.
In a joint statement published by the US embassy in Baghdad and the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, the two sides said, “Within the framework of the strategic partnership between Iraq and the United States of America… it was decided to establish a High Joint Coordination Committee.”
Iraq has faced escalating tensions since the start of the war on February 28, with the United States targeting pro-Iran armed groups and those groups launching attacks on what they claim are US interests in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
The statement said the committee held its first meeting on Thursday, where Iraqi and US officials “decided to intensify cooperation to prevent terrorist attacks and ensure that Iraqi territory is not used as a launching point for any aggression against the Iraqi people, the Iraqi Security Forces, Iraqi strategic facilities and assets, as well as against U.S. personnel, diplomatic missions, and the Global Coalition.”
“Both sides emphasized their commitment to keeping Iraq outside the scope of the ongoing military conflict in the region,” the statement read.
It added that the two countries reaffirmed their commitment to coordinating counterterrorism efforts “in a manner that prioritizes Iraqi action to achieve the shared objectives in a manner that preserves stability and safeguards Iraq’s sovereignty.”
Iraqi pro-Iran armed groups operating under the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” umbrella have also carried out strikes on Gulf countries, some of which are believed to have been launched from Iraqi territory while the US has conducted multiple retaliatory airstrikes against pro-Iran armed group positions and leadership across Iraq.