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Negotiations between the Biden administration and a senior Iraqi delegation resumed in Washington on Monday in an effort to establish a timeline aimed at deciding the future of the 2,500 US troops that remain in their country.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Mohamed al Hassan of Oman as his new Special Representative for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). 

The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) today for a final 19 month-period until 31 December 2025, after which UNAMI will cease all work and operations except with respect to any remaining liquidation of the Mission.

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, noted that several important steps and promising initiatives have emerged in Iraq, especially in the past 18 months in the areas of service provision and construction. 

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The Council today adopted a decision extending the mandate of the EU Advisory Mission in support of Security Sector Reform in Iraq (EUAM Iraq) until 30 April 2026, with a budget allocation of almost €66 million for the period from 1 May 2024 to 30 April 2026.

US President Joe Biden and Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani said Monday they would keep working towards the withdrawal of a US-led anti-jihadist coalition in the country. The US-led military coalition was formed in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group — the year the jihadists overran nearly a third of Iraq’s territory and swaths of neighboring Syria.

A United Nations mission set up to help Iraq investigate alleged Islamic State genocide and war crimes is being forced to shut prematurely before it can finish its probes, following a souring of its relationship with the Iraqi government.

Attacks originating both within and outside Iraq have the potential to unravel hard-won stability and other achievements if they continue, the head of the UN Mission in the country, UNAMI, warned the Security Council on Tuesday. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani on Thursday repeated his call for the US-led international anti-jihadist coalition to depart his country amid soaring regional tensions over the Israel-Hamas war.