Ghassan Ashour, a Middle East affairs analyst, said that the departure of U.S. military forces from Iraq in the short term will not create a major change on the battlefield, because in recent years these forces had been mostly stationed at their bases and did not have an operational role in Iraq.

He added that groups close to the Islamic Republic previously considered the U.S. presence in Iraq as a pretext for keeping their weapons, but even after the departure of the American forces, they continue to refuse to disarm by using new excuses. According to Ashour, these groups act in line with Tehran’s interests rather than considering Iraq’s interests.