BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al Zaidi met with delegations from two Iranian-backed militias — Asaib Ahl al Haq and Kataib Imam Ali — after both groups announced they would sever ties with the Popular Mobilization Forces and place their arms under state authority, exposing a widening fracture among Tehran’s proxy network in Iraq over whether to submit to government control.
“During the meeting, it was decided to form a joint committee tasked with devising the appropriate mechanisms for implementing procedures to disengage from the Popular Mobilization Forces and confine arms to the hand of the state, within the next two days,” the Iraqi prime minister’s office stated. Zaidi, who was nominated on April 27 and sworn in on May 14, said the move would bolster Iraq’s security apparatus. “This step will strengthen the role of our armed forces in all their components,” he said.
The announcements followed Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr’s May 27 decision to dissolve his Saraya al Salam militia and place it under state control. Asaib Ahl al Haq cited the “national will” and a decision by the Shiite Coordination Framework, the top coalition of Shiite parties in Iraq, which supports the effort to “impose state monopoly over arms and disengage the PMF from political, partisan and societal frameworks,” the London-based Asharq al Awsat reported. Asaib Ahl al Haq’s political wing, the Al Sadiqoun Bloc, is part of the Coordination Framework.
Kataib Imam Ali said it acted due to “the Coordination Framework’s effort to strengthen the rule of law in the country.” Iraq’s Shafaq News reported that “the faction said it had formed committees to oversee the inventory, transfer, and handover of equipment under the supervision of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, while also managing the affairs of members, wounded personnel, and families of those killed.”
But two other Iranian-backed groups are resisting. Kataib Hezbollah said on May 30 that it supports the initiative in principle, yet simultaneously stated it was prepared to receive specialized weapons, such as drones and missiles, and even pay for these arms — indicating the group does not intend to disarm. Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba rejected the disarmament initiative outright. Both groups are part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, the umbrella used by militias to claim attacks against U.S. forces and Israel since October 2023. The PMF includes around 70 armed groups, several of which the U.S. has designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
The U.S.-funded network Alhurra reported that the militia moves were “the result of renewed U.S. pressure and what appears to be a shift in Iran’s position.” Newly appointed U.S. Envoy to Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack praised Zaidi’s initiative. “We likewise commend those groups whose principled decision to return all weapons to the Iraqi state will contribute to the architecture of order. Prime Minister Al Zaidi’s confidence is well-placed, for this marks only the beginning,” Barrack said.
Ghazi al Faisal, director of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies, told the UAE’s Al Ain News that “the issue of weapons outside the state remains one of the most prominent tests facing Iraq in the next stage, and the government’s success in addressing it will be a decisive factor in strengthening political and security stability and consolidating the concept of a modern state based on the monopoly of force and the application of the law to everyone.” The joint committee formed during the Baghdad meeting is expected to produce implementation mechanisms within two days.