Iraq Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is in New York City for the UN General Assembly. A New York Times article on the latest developments in Iraq noted that “Iraq's prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, pledged to disarm his country's Iran-backed militias by June 2027.” This is concerning because it essentially kicks the can down the road on militia disarmament.
The new developments regarding the militias come as the US is leaving Iraq on September 30. Zaidi wants to restructure the US relationship and make it strategic. Iraq is being pressured to cut off Iran amid US sanctions. Now, Zaidi has said that there may be a 90-day period where the militias stop their attacks. Once that ends, they will hand over arms. This creates a lot of variables that can go wrong.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Zaidi. “Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi today to discuss the future of the US-Iraq partnership. The Secretary and Prime Minister agreed on the importance of Iraq dismantling terrorist militias, preventing attacks from Iraqi territory, and fully exercising its sovereignty,” the US Department of State said.
Zaidi “reiterated the government’s determination to fulfill its sovereign responsibilities and move forward with measures to ensure that all arms remain under state authority, in accordance with constitutional and legal principles,” his office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Iraqi commander calls for disarmament of YBS Yazidi armed group
Meanwhile, in Iraq, the ground forces commander of the army, Qassim al-Mohammedi, called for the YBS Yazidi armed group to disarm. The Yazidi group had agreed to do this a week ago.
“All non-Iraqi armed men must leave the area because this isn’t their area of operation, and their presence cannot be accepted,” Mohammedi told the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA). The goal is to stabilize Sinjar. It comes as the Kurdish Peshmerga also announced unification this week.
Iran-backed militias have infiltrated Iraq’s security and political landscape since the 2003 US invasion. Many operate within the state-backed paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), while retaining separate leadership structures and close relationships with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The major Iran-aligned groups include Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Kataib Imam Ali, and several smaller factions. Some of the militias also operate as part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. They have carried out hundreds of attacks in Iraq, targeting US forces and the Kurdistan Region. They have also attacked Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and other countries. There are some 100,000 members of the militias.
The US has designated many of the groups as terrorist groups. Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Harakat al-Nujaba, and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada are currently designated both Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs), according to the US Treasury. Kataib Hezbollah has been an FTO since 2009, and Asaib Ahl al-Haq since 2020. Badr is the only militia that has not been designated. It is also the largest.