U.S. Forces Only In Iraq For Counterterrorism Missions, Salih Says

Iraqi President Barham Salih says that U.S. troops in Iraq are there specifically for counterterrorism operations in response to comments by President Trump, reports Al Jazeera (Qatar). 

In an interview with CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday, Trump said that U.S. troops would remain at Ayn al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq to monitor Iran. 

The base is well situated to monitor developments in the region, Trump said. He denied that the U.S. would conduct kinetic operations against Iran from the base. 

Speaking at a forum on Monday, Salih denied that the U.S. had made a formal request to use the base in the way Trump described. 

U.S. forces in Iraq are authorized to fight terrorism, he emphasized. Any operations outside of this framework are unacceptable.

Discussions over the future U.S. presence in the country are ongoing, reported the New York Times. Washington is seeking to relocate some of its troops from Syria to Iraq with the understanding that they could attack ISIS fighters in Syria from Iraqi facilities. 

U.S. officials have visited bases across the country, including Ayn al-Asad and one in Erbil, to see if the facilities could accommodate additional troops.