For Washington, the departure from Iraq represents the closing chapter of a military campaign that began more than a decade ago. In Tehran, however, the same moment is being read through a very different lens — as evidence that America’s military footprint in West Asia can be pushed back.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) described the conclusion of the US-led military mission in Iraq as a “historic victory”, portraying the withdrawal as the product of Iraqi political will and resistance. The IRGC went further, calling on Washington to leave the wider region and arguing that regional states should take responsibility for their own security.

The rhetoric is significant because it transforms what Washington describes as a planned military transition into something Tehran presents as a strategic turning point.

Two Narratives, One Departure

The US and Iraq had already agreed on a timetable to wind down the coalition’s military role. The American-led Operation Inherent Resolve was created in 2014 after ISIS captured large parts of Iraq and Syria. Its mission centred on supporting Iraqi and regional forces through air operations, intelligence, training and other assistance.

US defence reporting has described the process as a transition toward a longer-term bilateral security relationship rather than simply an abrupt abandonment of Iraq. Earlier US reports also documented the gradual consolidation and repositioning of American forces as the coalition mission changed.

But Tehran has chosen a different vocabulary.

The IRGC described the American departure as the “first step” toward removing US forces from the broader region, presenting Iraq as the beginning of a much larger geopolitical process.

The Shadow of 2003

The significance of the moment becomes clearer when viewed against the history of the last two decades.

American forces entered Iraq in 2003, overthrowing Saddam Hussein’s government. They later withdrew in 2011, only to return in a different military framework after ISIS’s dramatic territorial expansion in 2014.

Iraq subsequently announced in December 2017 that it had regained control of territory seized by ISIS.

The latest departure therefore closes a complicated military arc: invasion, withdrawal, return, counterterrorism campaign — and now another major American military transition.

Yet the end of the coalition’s combat mission does not automatically mean the end of the US-Iraq security relationship. American defence documents have described the transition toward bilateral cooperation, advising and security assistance.

Tehran Wants the Moment to Mean More

This is where the political significance of the withdrawal extends beyond Iraq.

Iran’s message is not simply that American troops have left one country. It is that the strategic balance of the region should increasingly be managed by regional governments rather than outside military powers.

That interpretation is Tehran’s own political framing of the event, not the stated US explanation for the transition.

For Washington, the military campaign helped defeat ISIS as an organised territorial force. For Tehran, the same departure is being presented as evidence that the era of sustained American military dominance in the region is being challenged.

The aircraft and troops may be leaving Iraq, but the argument over what their departure means has only just begun.