A powerful Iranian-backed militia on Friday warned Iraq's government that using force to disarm armed groups before a September 30 deadline could result in internal conflict and set three conditions, including the withdrawal of US forces.
The head of Badr Organisation's political office, Mohammed Naji, said any attempt to forcibly disarm armed groups would result in civil war and deepen internal divisions between Iraq's sectarian groups. He said Prime Minister Al Al Zaidi was under pressure from the US and was moving too quickly.
“As for the tone we have heard of, hinting at the imposition of force, if it is accurate, it is a grave overstep. We will not permit the Prime Minister or anyone else to descend to that level in dealing with our brothers in the resistance,” Mr Naji said in a post on X.
“It opens the door to internal strife whose beneficiary, first and last, is the United States, the Zionist entity [Israel], and those lying in wait for us,” he added.
Mr Naji said that the Badr group has set three conditions for restricting weapons to state authority: the full withdrawal of US forces, the removal of strategic threats facing Iraq, and the full development of the Iraqi armed forces, particularly air defences.
His remarks come days after the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, Brig Gen Esmail Qaani paid a visit to Baghdad this week, according to two sources close to Iran-backed militia and political factions.
During meetings with militia leaders and politicians, Mr Qaani “sought a kind of settlement that could keep the weapons [and] prevent any confrontation between the government and the armed factions”, one source said, without giving details.
Keeping the weapons is “essential [to the militia groups] and they could be frozen other than handing them over,” sources told The National.
The Badr Organisation, one of Iran’s oldest and most powerful proxy groups in Iraq, is a Shiite political party and a paramilitary force. It is part of the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of hardline Shiite factions, and has been operating in the country since the early 1980s.
Mr Al Zaidi has vowed to disarm Iran-backed militias since assuming office in May. As he faced increasing pressure to meet the September 30 deadline, he requested parliament’s Defence and Security Committee to draft a bill to place all weapons under state control. He has also warned that those refusing to disarm will be charged under counter-terrorism law.
The September deadline is also when US troops are expected to leave their last base in the Kurdistan Region under an agreement to scale back US presence in Iraq.
On Wednesday, Mr Al Zaidi reiterated that the US-led coalition’s military mission and the departure of foreign forces would be completed by September 30. During a meeting with US army chief Brad Cooper he said that Iraq would be free of foreign military forces from October 1. He also stressed that weapons must be confined exclusively to state authority.
