CF leaders convene with PM Al-Zaidi after Qaani talks
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Leaders of Iraq’s Shiite Coordination Framework (CF) held a “special meeting” with Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi on Tuesday, shortly after Iran’s Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani concluded talks in Baghdad over the future of armed factions and their weapons, an informed political source told Shafaq News.
The meeting was underway at Al-Zaidi’s government headquarters, the source said, without disclosing its agenda or further details.
Qaani arrived in Baghdad on Monday with a high-level military and security delegation for an unannounced visit, meeting Badr Organization leader Hadi Al-Amiri and other political and faction figures before returning to Tehran.
A source previously told Shafaq News that Qaani opposed disarmament at this stage but cautioned the factions against confronting Iraqi security forces, warning that such a move “could trigger a broader domestic crisis.” He instead favored a political settlement that would allow them to keep their weapons temporarily and urged CF leaders to press Baghdad for a compromise.
Read more: SCOOP: Iran’s Qaani rejects Iraqi faction disarmament
The contacts come ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline set by the State Administration Coalition (SAC) to bring weapons under state control. The alliance, which includes Iraq’s main Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish political forces, has warned that armed activity outside state institutions after that date “will be treated as unlawful.”
Several Iran-aligned Iraqi armed factions, including Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat Al-Nujaba, and Kataib Sayyid Al-Shuhada, have rejected disarmament before foreign forces leave Iraq and guarantees are provided against external attacks, while other groups have shown willingness to reorganize their relationship with the state.
The Sept. 30 deadline coincides with the planned end of the US-led Coalition’s military presence in Iraq, a timeline factions have cited in linking disarmament to the withdrawal of foreign forces.
Read more: Days to disarm Iraq's factions: deadline or negotiable ceiling?
