BAGHDAD, IRAQ — Hours after the last American troops left the country Wednesday, a newly sovereign Iraq marked its first day of full independence by texting neighboring Iran to ask what time it had to be home.
“We are a free country now, and free countries make their own decisions,” said Hassan Jaburi, 47, Iraq’s newly appointed deputy minister for doing whatever we want. “We just like to check with Tehran before we make them. It’s a respect thing.”
The United States withdrew its remaining 2,500 troops from Erbil on Wednesday under a 2024 agreement, ending a 12-year mission against the Islamic State group. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi had declared that October 1 would be “a new day in the course of the Iraqi state.” According to a copy of the day’s schedule obtained by The Prickled Herald, the first item on that new day is a permission slip.
The two-page form asks Iran to check “Yes,” “No,” or “Ask the Militias” next to several requests, including a victory parade, a sleepover in Jordan, and “having Saudi Arabia over, just as friends.” Iran approved the parade on the condition that it pass by Tehran first.
Iran, which has been at war with the United States since February, set a sovereignty curfew of 9 p.m. “because of everything going on,” a phrase Iraqi officials later confirmed referred to Iran.
Iraq’s Iran-backed militias, who were supposed to put away their weapons as part of the handover, have asked for an extension until June 30, 2027. “I said I’d put them away, and I will,” said one militia commander, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was still in bed at 2 p.m. “Why is everybody always on my case?”
In the north, Kurdish residents noted that the departing Americans had also taken Erbil’s air defense systems with them. “It’s like your roommate moves out and takes the smoke detectors,” said Erbil shopkeeper Dilshad Karim, 58. “Then the neighbor who keeps setting fires offers to babysit.”
Dr. Gordon Leash, a senior fellow at the Center for Recently Independent Studies, said the behavior is completely normal. “Every country goes through this phase,” Leash said. “They get the keys, they throw a party, and then they call the neighbor who has a spare key and several seats in parliament.”
At publishing time, Iraq had asked whether it could at least stay up for Thursday’s big Sovereignty Conference, and Iran had replied, “We’ll see,” which Iraqi officials said they understood to mean no.
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