Iran’s Qaani presses for regulating Iraqi armed factions
Shafaq News – Baghdad
Iran’s Quds Force Commander, General Esmail Qaani, centered his recent visit to Baghdad on coordinating with the Iraqi government to restructure armed factions under unified state control, a political source told Shafaq News on Monday.
According to the source, Qaani discussed with senior Iraqi officials, leaders of the Coordination Framework (CF)— a coalition of major Shiite forces —, and commanders of armed factions the regulation of weapons, regional security developments, and measures to block potential Israeli strikes on Iraqi territory.
The source described a shared understanding between Baghdad and Tehran based on restraint and de-escalation, with both sides agreeing to strengthen political and security coordination, limit attacks on US interests, and work jointly to avert a broader regional conflict.
Iraq officially recognizes the national army and the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). While the PMF is legally part of the state's armed forces, many of its key factions operate under the banner of the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” aligned with Iran’s regional “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, and positions itself against US and Israeli interests in the region.
Read more: Why Iraq’s PMF disarmament is a different battle from Lebanon’s Hezbollah
The United States has repeatedly urged Baghdad to disarm Iran-backed groups, arguing that they “undermine Iraq’s sovereignty, threaten civilians, and drain state resources to Tehran.” In response, the Iraqi government has stressed that all armed factions must either integrate into official security institutions or transition into political activity — a framework it considers agreed upon and gradually implemented.
As part of this approach, leaders of the Coordination Framework earlier this year approved an internal agreement to unify all armed formations under the PMF, placing them directly under the authority of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
