Iraqi troops will take over security in the country's southern province of Muthanna next month, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said.
British soldiers currently oversee a multi-national contingent including Japanese and Australian troops in the area.
Iraqi and British officials have said for some weeks that a handover was likely in July.
It would be the first of Iraq's 15 provinces outside of the relatively peaceful north to be under full Iraqi control.
