Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said Tuesday that during his visit to Washington last month, U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq.

"During my visit to Washington and during the strategic dialogue, the U.S. president clearly announced the pullout of the U.S. troops from Iraq," al-Kadhimi said during the cabinet meeting.

"The strategic dialogue statement was clear and included the withdrawal (of U.S. troops) from all the military bases in Iraq and then to deploy outside Iraq," al-Kadhimi said in a video posted on the official Facebook page of his media office.

On Aug. 18, al-Kadhimi led a delegation to Washington on an official visit, during which he held a series of meetings with U.S. officials and attended the second session of Iraq-U.S. strategic dialogue.

Earlier in September, General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the U.S. military's Central Command, said that the Pentagon will draw down the level of U.S. troops in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 in September.

The Iraq-U.S. relationship has been strained since Jan. 3 when a U.S. drone struck a convoy at the Baghdad airport, killing Qassem Soleimani, then commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces.

This led to the first round of Iraq-U.S. strategic dialogue held on June 12, during which the U.S. confirmed that it does not seek permanent military presence in the country, would reduce forces in Iraq, and discuss with the Iraqi government the status of the remaining forces.

Over 5,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in Iraq to support Iraqi forces in the battle against the Islamic State (IS), mainly for training and advisory purposes.

The troops are part of the U.S.-led international coalition that has been conducting air raids against IS targets in both Iraq and Syria.

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