US troops disposing of uniforms in a burn pit.

Russian Ambassador to Iraq Elbrus Kutrashev said, as quoted by Sputnik, that the US and NATO are meddling in the country's domestic affairs, although they are not occupying Iraq.

"The situation in the country [Iraq] is very ambiguous. There has been no occupation per se for a long time, but there is interference in internal affairs. It is aimed, among other things, at preventing Iraq from cooperating with those outside the good graces of Washington and its allies," Kutrashev said.

The NATO operation in Iraq was formally established in July 2018 under the pretext of educating the Iraqi security forces without ever engaging in military conduct.

Following a clandestine US military operation at the Baghdad airport in January 2020 that resulted in the martyrdom of top Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani. The alliance reportedly halted its military training mission in Iraq. Simultaneously, the Iraqi government responded by stressing that the country's collaboration with NATO must be altered and respect Iraq's sovereignty.

The NATO nations' foreign ministers decided to increase their deployment in Iraq in April 2020. They specifically agreed that the NATO operation would train the Iraqi federal police, sappers, and non-commissioned officers.