In breach of 2021 agreements between the United States and Iraq that saw the U.S. military officially transition to an “advisory role” instead of one of combat, American forces are storing offensive military weapons at Ain al-Asad base. 

A senior Iraqi military official wanting to remain unnamed told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that he saw American weapons while visiting Ain al-Asad, including Apache and Black Hawk helicopters. 

“The recent visit of the military delegation to Ain al-Asad base revealed offensive equipment and weapons,”  The Iraqi military official told the U.K.-based outlet. “This is contrary to the agreement concluded in 2021, which allowed the presence of defensive weapons with the advisory task force.” 

According to Iraqi media, speaking under the condition of anonymity, the official visited the base as a member of a larger military delegation on August 26. While visiting the second-largest U.S. military base in Iraq, he also reported seeing monitoring equipment and an advanced radar system. 

He stressed that the Iraqi government intends to press Washington about the issue with special considerations due to U.S. military movements taking place throughout neighboring Syria. Iraq has recently witnessed a significant addition of U.S. military equipment and troops. The Pentagon says the additional forces are “part of the exchange of existing forces” throughout Syria. 

Since invading and illegally occupying Iraq in 2003, the U.S. has controlled the Ain al-Assad air base. While the U.S. began to withdraw forces in 2011 after Washington failed to secure a new Status of Forces (SOFA) agreement with the former Iraqi government and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, U.S. forces started returning to the base in June of 2014 under the pretext of “training Iraqis to fight ISIS.”

Baghdad announced on December 18, 2021, that “no combat forces of the international coalition or NATO” remained at the base. However, more than 2,000 American troops are still in Iraq, many at the Ain al-Asad base, as part of a “training and advisory role.” 

The continued presence of U.S. forces is part of a 2021 agreement between Iraq and the U.S. that was supposed to be the start of the complete withdrawal of American troops, similar to the U.S. exit from Afghanistan. 

Since January 2020, calls have intensified for the U.S. to end its military occupation of Iraq following the vote by the Iraqi parliament withdrawing U.S. permission to operate on Iraqi soil as a response to the assassination of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis outside of Baghdad airport. 

Earlier this year, in March, Lloyd Austin, the U.S. defense secretary, declared, “U.S. forces are ready to remain in Iraq at the invitation of the government of Iraq.”