The text of the following statement was released by the U.S. Department of Defense and Kurdistan Region Presidency.
Senior officials from the U.S. Government and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq conducted the inaugural Peshmerga Executive Steering Committee at the Kurdistan Region Presidency in Erbil on January 29, 2024. The committee met to assess progress on Peshmerga reform objectives outlined in the U.S. DoD – Kurdish Region Government (KRG) Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was renewed in September 2022.
The committee reviewed the progress made towards Peshmerga reform and agreed upon the milestones for the next year as part of the shared long-term commitment to unify Peshmerga forces under the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs (MoPA) and build a professional, capable force to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS. The MoPA has made significant progress towards financial and force structure reform, and both the DoD and MoPA look forward to the continued advancement of reform efforts outlined in the 2022 DoD – KRG MOU. The United States stands with the people of Iraq, including the people of the Kurdistan Region, as they build a strong, stable, and sovereign Iraq.