Iraqi authorities announced on Sunday that talks with the US on the future of the international anti-jihadist coalition had resumed, expressing the hope that they would not be “disturbed” by any new development, so that they could be completed “as soon as possible”.

Since mid-October, armed groups close to Iran have launched a series of attacks against US troops deployed in Iraq and Syria as part of an international coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) group. In retaliation, Washington has repeatedly launched deadly strikes against these organizations.

Seeking de-escalation, Baghdad and Washington began talks in late January within the confines of a joint “supreme military committee.” But the process was suspended almost immediately, as on January 28 a drone strike killed three members of the US armed forces in the Jordanian desert, on the border with Syria.

“The Iraqi Supreme Military Committee resumed (as of yesterday) Sunday its meetings with the forces of the international coalition in Baghdad,” said in a press release released by General Yahya Rasool, the military spokesman of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Zia al- Sudanese.

At this stage, the talks are aimed at assessing the threat posed by IS, as well as the “operational environment” and “the capabilities of the Iraqi armed forces,” the senior Iraqi officer recalled.

“On the basis of these meetings, a timetable will be established for the considered and progressive reduction” of personnel “until the end of the mission of the international coalition forces against IS,” he added.

“As long as nothing disturbs the calm of the talks, the meetings will be held regularly to complete the committee’s work as quickly as possible,” he added.

Since mid-October, there have been more than 165 rocket, drone and short-range ballistic missile attacks against US troops in Iraq and Syria, actions triggered by the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. The “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, an umbrella organization of pro-Iranian militants, claimed responsibility for most of them.

The US maintains 2,500 troops in Iraq as part of the coalition, providing assistance and advice to government forces to prevent the re-emergence of IS.

To replace the international coalition, Iraqi authorities say they want bilateral military cooperation with separate members.

The coalition and the US, unlike Baghdad, anticipate that the process will take a long time. In announcing the resumption of negotiations, the coalition said last Thursday that the aim was to “assess progress on the joint mission