US-backed effort to disarm Iraq’s Iran-linked militias hits setback, experts say

The Trump administration’s push to compel the new Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to dismantle pro-Iran terrorist militias is moving forward — even with some setbacks.

As Mideast experts are taking a wait-and-see approach tinged with mild optimism, a senior Iraqi official announced in late August that Baghdad will not treat Sept. 30 as a deadline to disarm the pro-Iran groups known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also called the Popular Mobilization Forces.

The Iraqi government is seeking to exercise control over the rogue state-affiliated militias with a strategy to integrate them into the state apparatus. The radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who leads Saraya al-Salam armed group, said in May that he favored integration. Some of the more hardline pro-Iranian regime militias, like Kataeb Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, declared that they will not disarm or integrate into the state.

The official, Qasim al-Araji, security advisor to the prime minister, told Al Iraqiya on Aug. 23, "Sept. 30 is the date for the international coalition to depart, not the deadline to hand over weapons." The international coalition is the U.S.-led force that defeated the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria during President Trump’s first term. It is unclear why Iraq’s government is walking back the disarmament deadline for the PMU.

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A spokesman for the Iraqi embassy declined to comment on the mixed messaging from Iraq’s government and on the timetable for dissolving or integrating the PMU.

Just days before al-Araji’s announcement, a representative of the Iraqi government sent Fox News Digital a statement: "Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi: All political forces fully agree on moving forward with restricting weapons to state control, and work is underway on mechanisms for surrendering weapons and bringing this issue to a complete end."

Al-Zaidi told the Baghdad Dialogue Conference at the same time that "all political forces agree on moving forward to ensure that all arms remain under state authority and on developing mechanisms for the handover of weapons. There are no intentions or prospects of any military confrontation, and we will not allow Iraq’s enemies to exploit any opportunity. The presence of weapons outside state authority creates an environment that discourages investment, which is unacceptable because it does not serve the interests of Iraqis."

In May, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Ali Maarij Al-Bahadly, Iraq’s deputy minister of oil, because he, according to the designation, "abuses his position to facilitate the diversion of oil to be sold for the benefit of the Iranian regime and its proxy militias in Iraq." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the time, "Like a rogue gang, the Iranian regime is pillaging resources that rightfully belong to the Iraqi people," adding "Treasury will not stand idly by as Iran's military exploits Iraqi oil to fund terrorism against the United States and our partners."

In late August, the UAE's The National paper reported that "Iraq's anti-corruption body announced that deputy oil minister, Al-Bahadly, was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined millions of dollars for corruption.

Reacting to reports that Iran approved passage of Iraqi oil tankers via the Strait of Hormuz, Alberto Fernandez, former U.S. ambassador and Mideast analyst, claimed that "the profit from that Iraqi oil goes, in part, to pay for Iran’s own Iraqi militias/death squads on the Iraqi government’s payroll." 

An Iraqi government spokesman dismissed Fernandez's comments, telling Fox News Digital, "That is not accurate."

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A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "Iraq has embarked on a new direction under the leadership of Prime Minister Al-Zaidi in full partnership with the United States. As President Trump made clear when he hosted Prime Minister Al-Zaidi’s historic July 14 visit, the United States strongly supports his vision to ensure a brighter future for all Iraqis free from terrorism, to prevent attacks in and from Iraqi territory, and to deliver a strong and mutually beneficial U.S.-Iraq partnership."

Entifadh Qanbar, a former spokesman for the deputy prime minister of Iraq during the George W. Bush administration, told Fox News Digital: "We were all hoping that Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi would take decisive action against the militias, especially after his visit to the White House and the widespread praise he received from President Trump. I was always skeptical, very skeptical, but I believed he deserved a chance."

Qanbar added, "Initially, some militias such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib Imam Ali (sanctioned by the U.S.) merely issued statements claiming they would hand over their weapons. There has been no credible evidence that they have actually disarmed."

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Qanbar claimed that "any remaining hope was further diminished after IRGC [Islamic Republic Guard Corps] Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani visited Baghdad. According to multiple reports, he instructed militia leaders to slow down any discussion of disarmament, reject the September 30 deadline, and maintain their weapons as part of Iran’s broader regional deterrence strategy."

When asked about Iraqi state efforts to dismantle the PMU, Elizabeth Tsurkov, a senior non-resident fellow at the New Lines Institute in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital, "The Iraqi government is trying. It genuinely carried out some moves. Unfortunately, because the militias are extremely willing to use force against their own people, including against security forces, the government finds itself in a position of backing down in the face of these militias."

She noted, "The militias have penetrated most state institutions… and you see repeated situations of the state backing down." Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, kidnapped Tsurkov in 2023 and held her hostage for nearly two years. The Trump administration secured her release in 2025.

The power of the PMU was demonstrated in a recent setback for the Iraqi government.

Both Qanbar and Tsurkov cited the case of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), which arrested Abbas al-Yaqubi, the head of intelligence for the Popular Mobilization Forces’ Baghdad Belt Operations Command.

A few days after al-Yaqubi’s arrest, he was transferred to the PMU intelligence branch. Qanbar said: "Al-Yaqubi has long been involved in violence against Iraqi activists, and many viewed his arrest as an important signal that the government was finally willing to confront powerful militia figures. What seemed like a significant step forward turned into a major setback."