The United States is preparing to terminate security assistance to the Kurdish Peshmerga as a critical memorandum of understanding expires this autumn, coinciding with the final withdrawal of coalition troops from Iraq, according to multiple officials familiar with the discussions.
The agreement between the Pentagon and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is set to lapse on September 30—the same date the U.S. and its partners are scheduled to complete their military departure. The move would formally conclude the international campaign against the Islamic State, during which the Peshmerga fought alongside coalition forces to dismantle the group’s territorial control across Iraq and Syria. The last remaining U.S. base in the country, located in the Kurdish capital of Erbil, is slated to close next month.
In fiscal year 2026, the Peshmerga—a force of roughly 180,000—received $61 million for weapons, training, and stipends through the Pentagon’s counter-ISIS program. The Department of Defense proposed eliminating that funding entirely in its fiscal year 2027 budget request, arguing that the defeat of ISIS warrants a reallocation of resources. However, that spending plan remains stalled amid broader congressional budget negotiations.
The prospect of a cutoff has alarmed officials in Iraqi Kurdistan, who had hoped Washington would extend the arrangement set to expire in September. Those concerns have intensified as Iran has escalated strikes against the region. According to data compiled by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank, Iran and its proxy militias carried out 158 missile or drone attacks inside Iraqi Kurdistan by late May.
Despite the surge in Iranian aggression, defense officials indicated in recent talks with Iraqi and Kurdish leaders that the U.S. does not plan to renew the memorandum, which was originally signed in 2016 and renewed in 2022, several sources said. A final decision on the future security relationship remains under review, according to one person familiar with the Pentagon’s deliberations. Officials added that the U.S. is exploring alternative mechanisms to preserve a degree of security cooperation in both Iraq and the Kurdish region after the troop withdrawal.
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