WASHINGTON — The Biden administration resumed negotiations with a senior Iraqi delegation about the future of the roughly 2,500 US troops in their country during meetings at the Pentagon on Monday.

The latest round of ministerial-level talks built on a yearlong joint review of the Iraqi military's capabilities, as Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani seeks a domestic win amid pressure by Iran-backed factions — increasingly incensed over Israel's war in Gaza — to oust American troops.

The discussions were to set to be led on the Iraqi side by Defense Minister Thabet Muhammad al-Abbasi, with US officials from the White House's National Security Council, the State Department, US Central Command (CENTCOM) and the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff attending.

Expected to be on the table is Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's request for timeline for transitioning the current US advisory troop presence in Baghdad in the wake of the 2014-19 war against the Islamic State to a more "normal" bilateral defense relationship.........

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