Iraq
The president of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council Faiq Zidan (right) meets with the United States special envoy Tom Barrack in Baghdad on February 27, 2026. Photo: Supreme Judicial Council
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council President Faiq Zidan met on Friday with United States Special Envoy Tom Barrack in Baghdad, as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue.
In a statement, the Supreme Judicial Council said the two sides “discussed the role of the judiciary in completing the remaining constitutional requirements in the coming stage,” without providing further details.
The meeting comes a day after the US and Iran concluded a third round of talks in Geneva without reaching a final agreement. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media that “good progress” had been made in the discussions, with both sides set to hold another round of talks in Vienna next week.
Washington has stepped up pressure on Baghdad to curb Tehran’s influence and limit the role of Iran-backed armed factions, urging Iraq to dissolve armed groups, including those formally incorporated into state institutions such as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
In early January, Zidan told Rudaw that several factions - Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), Kata’ib Imam Ali, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada and Ansar Allah al-Awfiya - had pledged to keep their weapons under Iraqi government control. However, Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful pro-Iran militia designated as a terrorist organization by Washington, has rejected disarmament.
On Thursday, the group called on its fighters to prepare for what it described as a potential “war of attrition,” while warning the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) against cooperating with what it called “hostile foreign forces,” amid US military movements in the region.
“Should evil America proceed to ignite the fuse of war in the region, it will find itself facing massive losses that cannot be contained or recovered,” the group said in a statement.
Zidan has faced criticism from US lawmakers. In mid-December, US Congressman Joe Wilson criticized him after he thanked armed factions for cooperating on restricting weapons to the state, saying he is trying to bamboozle the United States with a FAKE disarming of Iranian puppet militias, to help ensure Iran maintains its control of Iraq.”
Wilson and other US lawmakers have increasingly targeted Zidan through initiatives such as the 2025 “Free Iraq from Iran Act,” describing him as a “tool of Iranian influence” who allegedly uses Iraq’s legal system to shield Tehran-aligned militias and suppress political opposition.
The campaign targeting Zidan was widely condemned by Iraq’s foreign ministry and a range of Iraqi political leaders, including the Kurdistan Region.
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