Iran-backed militias in Iraq are ready to disarm following Trump’s threats

Several of the Iran-backed militia groups operating in Iraq are set to demilitarize for the first time to avoid conflict with the US following President Trump’s threats to Tehran’s proxies, senior Baghdad officials said.

Ten senior commanders and Iraqi officials urged the capital to begin the process of disarming and disbanding the militias operating in Iraq to avoid the worst-case scenario with the US.

“Trump is ready to take the war with us to worse levels, we know that, and we want to avoid such a bad scenario,” a commander of Kataeb Hezbollah, the most powerful Shiite militia operating in Iraq, told Reuters.

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The commander, along with leaders of the al-Nujaba, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada and Ansar Allah al-Awfiya groups, have been meeting with each other and officials in Baghdad to discuss the demilitarization efforts.

Izzat al-Shahbandar, a senior Shiite Muslim politician close to Iraq’s governing alliance, confirmed the meetings between the militia chiefs and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, describing the talks as “very advanced.”

“The factions are not acting stubbornly or insisting on continuing in their current form,” he noted, adding that the militants were “fully aware” they could be targeted by US airstrikes like their fellow Iran-backed militants in Yemen.

The militia leaders said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has given them their blessing to make whatever decision needs to be made to avoid conflict with the US.

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Along with overseeing the militias’ demilitarization, Sudani is allegedly calling on all the estimated 50,000 militants across the Islamic Resistance in Iraq to put down their weapons and surrender their arsenals, which include long-range missiles and anti-aircraft weapons, according to two security officials who monitor militias’ activities.

The US State Department touted Iraq’s proactive approach as it reins in the militias, calling on Baghdad to absorb the forces and keep Tehran’s influence out.

These forces “must respond to Iraq’s commander-in-chief and not to Iran,” the department said in a statement.

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The IRGC declined to comment on the progress in Iraq.

The demilitarization efforts come as the US seeks to further isolate Iran and its so-called “Axis of Resistance,” which has seen major blows following Israel’s destruction of Hamas and Hezbollah’s leadership in Gaza and Lebanon.

The Houthis in Yemen have also suffered recent blows under widespread US airstrikes last month, with Tehran also losing its foothold in Syria following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Ibrahim al-Sumaidaie, a former political adviser to Sudani, told Iraqi state TV that the US has ramped up its warning since Trump’s return to the White House, telling Baghdad to take the threats seriously.

“If we do not voluntarily comply, it may be forced upon us from the outside, and by force,” he said.

With Post wires