ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Aboudi received US Chargé d’Affaires Steven Fagin to discuss Baghdad’s ongoing efforts in monopolizing arms as well as maintaining “balanced relations” with regional countries, Aboudi’s office said Tuesday, as the deadline set by the Iraqi government to disarm the armed factions fast approaches. Aboudi reiterated Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s determination to implement his government program, including “restricting arms to the state, combating corruption, creating an attractive environment for investment” as well as boosting the economy and completing national efforts to achieve comprehensive reforms. Aboudi also emphasized “Iraq's commitment to regional security and stability, as well as its pursuit of balanced relations with various parties,” according to the statement. The discussion came hours after the Iraqi premier's meeting with US State Secretary Marco Rubio in New York. The US State Department stated that Rubio and Zaidi have “agreed on the importance of Iraq dismantling terrorist militias, preventing attacks from Iraqi territory, and fully exercising its sovereignty,” with a statement from Zaidi’s office later echoing the same remarks. From the beginning of his tenure in early September, Fagin met with Zaidi and other Iraqi officials with the restriction of arms under state control - a goal adopted and advanced by Zaidi since June toward a September 30 deadline - at the center of discussions. In his mid-May inaugural address before the Iraqi parliament, Prime Minister Zaidi vowed sweeping security reforms, including "confining weapons to state control," with the aim of enforcing the rule of law, strengthening the country's security, intelligence, and military capabilities, and ensuring that decisions of war and peace remain exclusively in state hands. In early June, Zaidi ordered the formation of a committee to oversee the disengagement of political parties and armed factions from the state-funded Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Consequently, the US intensified pressure on the Iraqi government to rein in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) entity and its affiliates, which overlap with the PMF. Operating under the banner of the IRI, various PMF factions are believed to have played an active role in backing Tehran during the six-week war in late February and its aftermath, which in early April claimed more than 750 attacks against targets across the region in support of Iran. The IRI has also conducted at least two waves of attacks against Saudi Arabia, with the latest earlier this month hitting and damaging the country’s East-West pipeline. Baghdad subsequently confirmed that the attack was launched from its territories. Several armed groups have expressed willingness to surrender their weapons, while others - including Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada - have rejected calls to disarm. Speaking in an interview with Rudaw earlier in September, the veteran Iraqi politician Izzat Shabandar, known for his proximity to Iran-backed factions, said September 30 is not a “sacred deadline.” “The [Zaidi] government has managed to persuade certain influential American figures involved in Iraqi decision-making that September 30 is not a sacred deadline,” Shabandar said, adding that “there is no deadline” currently on the horizon for the disarmament push. In a similar vein, Qasim al-Araji, security advisor to the Iraqi prime minister, said Friday that “there is no deadline” for confining weapons to state control, adding that talks with armed groups are continuing in a “positive atmosphere” and dismissing reports of possible US sanctions on Iraq. Meanwhile, according to a report by The New York Times on Monday, a 90-day period will start after September 30 for the factions to refrain from attacks and receive guarantees that they will not be targeted by US forces. Based on the report, the handover of weapons will continue until late June of 2027, with some factions requesting the end of 2027 to complete the disarmament.
