ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s deadline for armed groups to relinquish weapons outside state control is not linked to a draft law governing the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), the spokesperson for the country’s commander-in-chief of the armed forces said on Sunday.
“The PMF draft law has been approved by the Council of Ministers and referred to parliament, and it will be discussed in the coming period. This draft law has absolutely no connection to the issue of bringing the groups’ weapons under state control by June 30,” Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, told Rudaw’s Malik Mohammed.
The government has set June 30, 2027, as the deadline for resolving the issue of weapons held by armed groups outside state control.
The proposed PMF law, comprising 18 articles, defines the force as part of Iraq’s armed forces and places it under the authority of the commander-in-chief.
Numan said the June deadline was agreed upon following discussions between a government committee and the armed groups.
“This came within the framework of an understanding. A committee was formed on the matter, and based on the committee’s vision and assessment, and in agreement with our brothers within the groups, they reached this timetable and set this deadline,” he said.
Numan described talks with the armed groups as positive, saying two factions have already committed to abiding by the commander-in-chief’s decisions and refraining from independent military operations.
So far, only two of the five main armed groups, Ansarallah al-Awfiya and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, have publicly expressed willingness to cooperate with Baghdad on bringing weapons under state control.
Both groups “have abandoned military activity and announced that from now on they will operate fully under the command of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces,” Numan said.
Other powerful Iran-aligned factions, however, have resisted calls to relinquish their weapons, including Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba and Ashab al-Kahf.
The armed groups had previously linked disarmament to the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. The United States and its partners in the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) withdrew their forces from Iraq on September 30 under an agreement with Baghdad.
Some factions have since raised additional conditions for bringing their weapons under state control, including ending US influence over Iraq’s financial system and the dissolution of the constitutionally recognized Peshmerga forces.
The proposed PMF legislation has also been a source of controversy and previously stalled in parliament amid strong US opposition. In August 2025, the Iraqi government withdrew an earlier version of the bill after lawmakers repeatedly failed to pass it, with Iraqi officials and lawmakers citing intense pressure from Washington.
The United States had warned that the legislation could further institutionalize Iran-aligned armed groups within Iraq’s security apparatus and undermine the country’s sovereignty. The bill was later revised, with some provisions opposed by Washington removed, before being revived by the current government.
