US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that the US military mission in Iraq will be completed before the end of this year during a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Juma Inad, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Saturday.

"The United States will uphold the commitments it made during the July 2021 U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue, including that there will be no U.S. forces with a combat role by the end of the year," the official statement said.

Austin further confirmed to the Iraqi defense minister that American forces will remain in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government to support the country's security forces, according to the statement.