Pompeo's statement comes as the American military continues to withdraw from the Middle Eastern nation. The US coalition transferred control over the Abu Ghraib base to the Iraqi authorities on 7 April after American soldiers vacated four other bases in Iraq in March.

The apparent military withdrawal comes months after the Iraqi parliament passed a non-binding resolution calling for an end to all foreign military deployments in the country as well as amid continuing missile attacks on US positions in Iraq. The resolution was passed in the wake of an unsanctioned US Air Force operation on the country's soil that resulted in the assassination of high-ranking Iranian General Qassem Soleimani on 3 January.

In the months following the assassination, the US repeatedly dismissed the idea that it might abide by the demands of the Iraqi parliament and leave the country.

Reporter’s code: 50101