When Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi came into office he said one of his top priorities was to disarm the pro-Iran Resistance. He set a date of September 30 for that to be accomplished but has since backed down due to Iranian pressure. Talks over the matter are disparate and uncoordinated giving the pro-Iran groups the upper hand.
PM Zaidi just announced a new timeline to bring weapons under state control. This would happen in two stages. First the Resistance would not make any independent statements and would not carry out military operations. Then they would turn over their heavy weapons and be integrated into the Hashd by June 2027.
This new plan came from Asaib Ahl Al-Haq’s Qais Khazali. He argued that negotiations with the Resistance would take months and suggested next summer as when they would be completed. He pushed his ideas through Deputy Speaker of Parliament Adnan Faihan who is a member of Khazali’s political party Sadiqoon and heads a parliamentary negotiating team with the factions.
The problem is that Baghdad does not speak with one voice. In this case there are three separate groups holding talks with the Resistance. One group is led by the ruling Coordination Framework and includes ex-prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, ex-PM Mohammed al-Sudani, Badr head Haidi Amiri and Supreme Council leader Hammam al-Hammoudi. Another is a government committee led by National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji. The third one is the parliamentary committee which Faihan is a member of. These groups all have different ideas and are not coordinated. Some have said the Resistance will give up their weapons by the end of the year others have said four years. They don’t agree on what weapons should be turned over. They have said the armaments should go to Iran, to Hashd depots or to ones controlled by the Resistance.
Because the government is in disarray over this issue the Resistance feels emboldened. The Hashd military-media director Muhannad al-Aqabi for instance said weapons would not be turned over to the government but would just be reorganized. Harakat al-Nujaba declared that all foreign forces had to be out of the country meaning not only the United States but Turkey before they acted while Kataib al-Shuhada demanded that the state achieve full sovereignty before anything would happen. Most importantly there is no longer talk of actual disarmament. Discussions are focusing upon where some weapons will go. These are all signs that the factions have the initiative and are issuing demands rather than responding to Baghdad.
PM Zaidi was full of bold talk about the Resistance when he first took power but now he is back peddling. He caved to Iran over the September deadline and has given up on putting weapons under state control. Now he is just trying to save face for his own standing and not to anger the United States after he portrayed himself as their ally in Baghdad.
SOURCES
Asharq Al-Awsat, "Iraq Weighs Moving Factions’ Weapons to Iran for Storage,” 9/9/26
Iraq Monitor, “The Militia Digest,” 9/22/26
Al Mada, “Behind the Scenes of Negotiations with the Factions: Stockpiling is a Temporary Measure … and Weapons Will Return if Washington Strikes Iran!” 9/21/26
- “July 2027 Targeted for Consolidating Arms Control; Al-Zaidi Prevents Salary Cuts for 10 PMF Brigades!” 9/22/26
Saadoon, Mustafa, “Exclusive: IraqI Militias Reject State Control of Their Weapons,” Al Hurra, 9/10/26
- “Iraqi Government Reaches Agreement With Factions on Weapons,” Al Hurra, 9/22/26
Shafaq News, “Iraqi armed factions tie weapons issue to full sovereignty,” 9/8/26
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