Iraq announced when Iran-backed armed groups will be disarmed

Iraq has announced when Iran-backed armed groups will be disarmed

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali az-Zaidi said Baghdad will complete the process of disarming Iran-linked armed groups by June 2027. With this, a deadline has been set to bring the powerful armed factions in the country under government control.

Az-Zaidi revealed the details of the proposed plan in an interview with The New York Times. He said that the armed groups must first refrain from launching any attacks for 90 days. In return, they will be guaranteed not to be targeted by US forces.

Then, the groups will begin surrendering their weapons. The government plans to fully complete this process by June 30, 2027. However, according to the NYT, the armed groups themselves are asking to extend this deadline until the end of 2027.

Earlier in the summer, az-Zaidi had said that the armed groups would be disarmed by September 30 — the day the last US troops are scheduled to leave Iraq. The armed groups immediately rejected this deadline. Following this, Iraqi officials retracted their statement, clarifying that September 30 would mark the beginning, not the end, of the disarmament process.

Since then, az-Zaidi's government has formed a special committee to negotiate the terms with the armed groups. According to the Prime Minister, the agreed schedule is expected to be officially announced on September 30.

"This is not a matter of choice. It is a necessity. Those who spoke about this in the past later went back on their words. They yielded to pressure or other concerns. For me, this issue, like corruption, is a matter of honor," the Prime Minister said.

"To build a strong economy, weapons must first be brought under control," he added.

This plan comes at a time when the Trump administration is pressuring Baghdad to rein in Iran-linked groups, which hold significant military and political influence.

Tehran relies on these armed groups, which are its allies in the confrontation with the US. They have repeatedly struck neighboring Kuwait and Jordan, as well as energy facilities in Iraq and the US Embassy in Baghdad.

In September, Saudi Arabia announced that a series of drone attacks launched from Iraqi territory had damaged the kingdom's East-West oil pipeline. The attack on this pipeline, which supplies 4 percent of the global oil supply, forced the kingdom to temporarily shut down the strategic facility.

Az-Zaidi is attending the UN General Assembly in New York for the first time since taking office. On September 21, he held a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the summit.