US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made a surprise trip to Iraq on Tuesday, almost 20 years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, and said that Washington is committed to maintaining its military presence in the country.

The 2003 invasion claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and created instability that eventually paved the way for the rise Islamic State militants after the withdrawal of US troops in 2011.

Austin, the most senior official in the Joe Biden administration to visit Iraq, was the last general to command US troops there since the invasion.

“American troops are ready to stay in Iraq at the invitation of your governmentAustin told reporters about this after a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani. “The United States will continue to strengthen and expand its partnership in support of the security, stability and sovereignty of Iraq.”

Washington is currently 2,500 soldiers in Iraq and another 900 in Syria. provide advice and support to local troops in the fight against the Islamic State, which in 2014 seized tracts of territory in both countries.

The Islamic State is far from being the formidable force it was in the past, but combat cells have survived in parts of northern Iraq and northeastern Syria.

According to former officials and experts, the trip is also aimed at support Sudanese fight against Iranian influence in the country.

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have occasionally fired rockets at US troops and their embassy in Baghdad. The United States and Iran were close to full blown conflict in 2020 afterUS troops will kill General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the drone strike.

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Austin met with Sudani as well as Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani amid a longstanding dispute over budget transfers and the division of oil revenues between the national and Kurdish governments.

Reuters