Harakat al-Nujaba in Iran: US pressures Iraq to marginalize PMF

Shafaq News/ The United States is pressuring the Iraqi government to sideline the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a senior representative of Harakat al-Nujaba said on Sunday, portraying the group as a vital component of Iraq’s national defence.

Speaking to Iran’s Mehr News Agency, Abbas al-Mousawi, the movement’s representative in Iran, affirmed that the PMF “has always been and remains an inseparable part of Iraq’s armed forces.”

He underlined that it is “a formal and independent institution’’ operating under the authority of the Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, noting that recent potential legal amendments to the group's law would grant it limited autonomy while keeping it under the premier’s supervision rather than placing it under army command.

Established in 2014 following a fatwa by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani urging Iraqis to resist the Islamic State (ISIS), the group mobilized thousands of volunteers, predominantly from Shiite factions. PMF fighters played a decisive role in halting the extremist group’s advance after it captured four provinces in the north and northwest and threatened Baghdad.

“The Popular Mobilization was built by passionate Iraqi youth and has become a pillar of popular resistance,” al-Mousawi remarked. “This is precisely why the United States continues to apply significant pressure on the Iraqi government to marginalize it.”

Recently, several regional media outlets have circulated claims suggesting plans to dissolve the PMF, allegations repeatedly denied by Iraqi officials. The head of the formation, along with other officials, has rejected any notion of disbandment, stressing that it continues to play an essential role in safeguarding Iraq’s sovereignty and supporting the broader security structure.