Esmail Qaani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, made an unannounced visit to Baghdad earlier this week and met Iraqi political and security leaders and commanders of Shia paramilitaries, according to an Iraqi source who spoke to Al Jazeera anonymously.
The meetings on Monday focused on Iraq’s plan to disarm armed groups and bring weapons under state control. The source said Tehran opposed factions handing over their weapons “at the present time” and urged a political compromise rather than confrontation.
Why the visit matters
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is facing a political and security crisis as a September 30 deadline approaches for restricting all weapons to state control. He has told parliament that his government wants to implement a 2024 agreement with the US-led coalition’s military mission to end its presence in Iraq as combat forces by the end of September.
On Tuesday, al-Zaidi directed parliament’s Security and Defence Committee to prepare a draft law restricting weapons to the state within constitutional rules. He said unregulated weapons undermine the authority of the law and the country’s security institutions.
Which groups are resisting
Some armed groups have agreed to integrate into Iraq’s state armed forces, but the source said powerful Shia paramilitaries including Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba remain defiant. Their position threatens to derail the government’s effort to establish a state monopoly on weapons.
The State Administration Coalition, which includes major Shia parties and some Sunni and Kurdish parties, recently called for weapons to be restricted to the state. It said entities conducting security-threatening activities outside official institutions were “outlaws that must be fought” and hinted that the Anti-Terrorism Law could be applied after the deadline.
Efforts to prevent escalation
The source said Iraqi political parties oppose using force to impose the government’s plan. Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Hikma Movement, is leading efforts to persuade armed factions to accept restrictions on weapons during the remaining month before the deadline.
The head of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies, Ghazi Faisal, warned that retaining the factions’ arsenals could widen the crisis. He said attacks launched from Iraqi territory could prompt neighbouring countries to respond directly or create joint security arrangements.
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