Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said today his forces will take over security in the southern province of Muthanna next month.
British oversee a multinational contingent, including Japanese and Australian troops, in the province.
Iraqi and British officials have said for some weeks that a handover was likely in July. It would be the first out of Iraq's 15 provinces outside of the relatively peaceful north to be under full Iraqi control.
Elsewhere in the country, a suicide car bomber targeting an Iraqi army checkpoint killed four people and wounded 10 in Baghdad today.
All the victims were civilians, police said.
In the town of Ramadi, helicopters flew over and warplanes could be heard as US troops hunted insurgents in the rebel stronghold.
Seven tanks moved along streets, according to witnesses. Two explosions were heard but the cause was not clear. Shops were shuttered and most residents stayed at home, fearing a US offensive on the scale of the one that inflicted heavy destruction and loss of life in nearby Falluja in 2004.
The US military has played down talk of that type of campaign, saying the current operation was part of efforts to restore stability in Ramadi.
US and Iraqi forces are setting up additional checkpoints and focusing on depriving rebels of positions used to launch attacks in the city, where the insurgency is believed to be a mix of Saddam Hussein loyalists and Islamic militants.
Mr al-Maliki has said he will try to restore stability in Ramadi through dialogue with tribal and community leaders and that force of the type used in Falluja would only be a last resort.