The Agreed Minute was a statute governing the nature of the U.S. military presence in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

from 1994 to 2006.

History

In 1951 American troops returned to Iceland to form an

Iceland Defense Force The Iceland Defense Force ( is, Varnarlið Íslands; IDF) was a military command of the United States Armed Forces from 1951 to 2006. The IDF, created at the request of NATO, came into existence when the United States signed an agreement to prov ...

. As Iceland has had no standing

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

of its own since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it was perceived that standing defences were required as the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

threat heightened. After the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

ended, the U.S. was reluctant to maintain the expense of retaining forces in Iceland. Icelandic politicians, however, were reluctant to see the American forces leave. Hence the Agreed Minute was developed and signed in 1994 as a compromise in which both parties compromised and came to an understanding. The Agreed Minute was last renegotiated in 2001. At the time, the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

committed itself to maintaining four to six

interceptors An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are c ...

at the

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavik merged with nearby Njarðv ...

base, supported by a helicopter rescue squadron. The Air Force, in order to cut costs, announced plans to remove the four remaining jets in 2003. The removal was then delayed to address Icelandic demands for continued presence of the jets. After an unfruitful series of negotiations and two reshufflings of the Icelandic government the issue lay dormant until early 2006 when the U.S. Air Force issued an official statement that withdrawal of the aircraft was already being prepared. U.S. officials have since then argued that Iceland is in no need of U.S. military presence and the last remaining airmen left Iceland during September 2006.

References

Defence of Iceland Treaties of Iceland Treaties of the United States Treaties concluded in 1994 Iceland–United States relations {{Treaty-stub