Iraqi PM To Meet Joe Biden, Focus On US Troop Withdrawal

The White House talks between the two allies come just a week after a deadly attack claimed by the Islamic State group

Weakened by pro-Iran factions at home, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi will meet with US President Joe Biden on Monday to discuss a possible full US troop withdrawal from his country. The White House talks between the two allies come just a week after a deadly attack claimed by the Islamic State group, despite Baghdad declaring the Sunni extremists defeated over three years ago. Kadhemi finds himself backed into a corner by the influence of Iraq's other main ally -- neighbouring Iran, which has long seen the United States as its arch-nemesis. Despite shared enmity on the part of the US and Shiite Iran toward a resilient ISIS, Kadhemi is under intense pressure from pro-Tehran armed factions who demand the withdrawal of 2,500 US troops still deployed in Iraq.