US nears full withdrawal from Iraq as bases in Kurdistan Region face attacks from Iran, proxies

The United States military has started to draw down its last remaining forces from Iraq stationed in the vicinity of Erbil's airport in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, well-placed sources with close knowledge of the process confirmed to Al-Monitor.

Patriot mobile air-to-surface air-defense systems that detect and shoot down incoming missiles, drones and other airborne enemy equipment have already been removed from the military compound, the sources said, without providing further details. The pullout started last week and is ongoing, with the bulk of the US forces and their heavy equipment out, the sources said. “All” of the Patriot anti-missile batteries had been redeployed to an undisclosed destination, they said, adding that other defensive weapons systems remained in place as of the time of publication.

Regional officials described the pullout as routine and in line with the US commitment to withdraw all its forces from Iraq by a Sept. 30 deadline that was agreed with Baghdad.

However, coming amid sustained attacks by Iran and its Shiite proxy militias, and on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in particular, the withdrawal has left the Kurds feeling badly exposed.

CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins declined to comment on any ongoing troop movements.

Kurdistan Regional Government officials did not respond to Al-Monitor’s request for comment.

While the Patriot systems were deployed to protect US forces, the Kurds have benefited immensely from the security umbrella as well. Erbil's airport has come under constant attack from Iran and Iran-backed militias since the start of the Iran conflict in February, including this week. US interceptors successfully deterred at least 95% of those attacks, the sources said.

The bulk of Iranian and militia attacks have targeted armed Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region. However, the Erbil compound has also been targeted multiple times. The Patriots have an operational range of between 60 to 100 miles (100-160 kilometers).

Removing the Patriots is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they defend ground troops, but on the other they have become targets themselves. The US pullout will not necessarily spell an end to US Iraqi military cooperation, with US special forces deployed at discrete low-profile locations, Michael Knights, head of research at New York-based consultancy Horizon Engage, told Al-Monitor.

US forces in Iraq are particularly vulnerable due to Iraq’s shared border with Iran and the continued aggression of the Iran-backed groups that are actively engaged in the conflict, hitting targets in Iraq and in the Gulf. Despite pledges to rein in the Iran-backed militias and disarm and demobilize them by Sept. 30, Iraq’s new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, has so far failed to do so, as witnessed by their recent attacks on Saudi oil fields, prompting Saudi Arabia to overtly team up with US forces to carry out retaliatory strikes across Iraq this week.

The removal of the Patriots in advance of a withdrawal of US troops on the ground has raised further questions about US stockpiles of interceptors and how the US military is now prioritizing their deployment to protect troops elsewhere in the region. “The Kurdistan Region is not a priority; the Gulf and Jordan clearly are,” said one of the sources, speaking on strict condition of anonymity.

A study published by the Center for International and Strategic Studies based in Washington shed light on the diminishing resources amid the breakdown of the US-Iranian ceasefire and of the ensuing memorandum of understanding struck between the sides in May. Building on an earlier study that was issued in April, when the ceasefire was reached, showing that 55% of the Patriot stockpile had been lost, this week’s report noted that their numbers had gone down by a further 10%. The Foreign Policy Research Institute estimated in a recent report that the United States produces around 600 Patriots per year, noting that stockpiles had already been drained due to transfers to Ukraine. 

Editor's note: July 31, 2026. This article has been updated to reflect revised figures on the number of Patriot missile systems produced annually by the United States.