国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Iraq, U.S. launch strategic dialogue to discuss future of U.S. troops, bilateral_时事

国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Iraq, U.S. launch strategic dialogue to discuss future of U.S. troops, bilateral

"But limited cooperation in training, intelligence and fighting terrorism should remain, as well as friendly relations in other fields such as economy and culture," al-Ameri added.

For his part, Abdullah al-Jubouri, media expert in the Iraqiya University in Baghdad, told Xinhua that the United States is not really willing to entirely withdraw from Iraq because Iraq is important for the U.S. strategic interests in the whole Middle East region.

"The United States believes that its presence in Iraq is very important, because it has to face the threats of Iranian ambitions in the region, extremist groups including IS, regional and domestic impact of a divided Iraq, as well as the great power competition in the region," al-Jubouri said.

On the other hand, al-Jubouri believes that the Iraqi side in the strategic dialogue was "weak" due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp decline in oil prices.

The expert said the weakness was also reflected in the division of factions towards the presence of U.S. troops.

The Iraqi parliament passed a resolution on Jan. 5 requiring the government to end the presence of foreign forces in Iraq, but Kurdish lawmakers and some Sunnis rejected the resolution and left the parliament session, al-Jubouri added.

"Under the pressure of COVID-19 pandemic, oil prices and infighting of Iraqi factions, it was hard for the government to take strong and decisive position toward the presence of foreign troops, despite the pressure of some Shiite political parties and Iranian-backed militias," al-Jubouri said.