With Tehran's West Asia allies battered, Iraq wants Iran-backed armed groups to surrender

Baghdad is attempting to pursuade strong Iran-backed armed factions in Iraq to lay down their weapons or join official security forces, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said.

These Iran-backed groups have fought US forces and fired rockets and drones at Israel.

In an interview with Reuters during his official visit to London, Hussein said the government was negotiating to control the groups while maintaining a balance between its relationships with Washington and Tehran.

“Two or three years ago it was impossible to discuss this topic in our society,” he said, but the presence of armed groups operating outside the authority of the state is now deemed unacceptable.

“Many political leaders, many political parties started to raise a discussion, and I hope that we can convince the leaders of these groups to lay down their arms, and then to be part of the armed forces under the responsibility of the government,” Hussein said.

Hussein even said Baghdad was ready to help diffuse tensions between Washington and Tehran if asked.

The backdrop: Changing geopolitical scenario 

Baghdad’s push to dismantle armed groups working outside of the state apparatus comes amid a swiftly changing landscape in West Asia as Tehran’s allies in Gaza and Lebanon have taken heavy blows, and Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria has been replaced by rebel forces.

Half a world away, in the US, the day President-elect Donald Trump takes charge is right around the corner. The incoming administration has promised to pile more pressure on Iran, which has long backed a number of political parties and an array of armed factions in Iraq.

During Trump’s presidency over four years ago, Washington’s relations with West Asian players grew tense as he ordered the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020. That led to an Iranian ballistic missile attack on an Iraqi base housing US forces.

With inputs from agencies