Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi hinted at a bigger Iraqi military role in Syria, once the U.S. military would withdraw from his country’s war-torn-neighbor. Speaking at a news conference in Baghdad after an Iraqi security delegation met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Abdul Mahdi voiced concerns about Islamic State activity that has emboldened in recent weeks by the U.S. decision to withdraw. The Prime Minister revealed that the Iraqi military sought to move beyond its current arrangement with Syria – under which it launches air strikes against the Islamic State militants within Syrian territory. “In case of the American withdrawal, Iraq is the best party to deal with the new situation and is ready to cooperate with the Syrian field forces there. Consequently, the cooperation between the two parties (Iraq and Syria) is necessary, as it is with the International coalition and other powers that are of concern in Syria,” Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Avdul Hahdi said.
While the Iraqi Prime Minister refrained from getting into more details, he underscored that all future decisions would be made in cooperation with the Syrian regime in Damascus and its international allies, i.e. Iran and Russia.