Iraq wants Iran-backed factions to lay down their arms, the foreign minister told Reuters

Timour Azhari

LONDON (Reuters) – Iraq is trying to persuade powerful armed factions in the country that have fought U.S. forces and fired rockets and drones at Israel to lay down their weapons or join official security forces, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said.

That pressure comes against a backdrop of seismic changes in the Middle East that have seen Iran’s armed allies in Gaza and Lebanon severely degraded and the Syrian government overthrown by rebels.

The new US Trump administration promises to step up pressure on Tehran, which has long supported a range of political parties and armed factions in Iraq.

Some Baghdad officials are concerned that the status quo there could change, but Hussein downplayed that in an interview with Reuters during an official visit to London.

“We don’t think Iraq is next,” Hussein said.

The government was in talks to rein in the groups as it continued to walk a tightrope between its ties to Washington and Tehran, he said.

“Two or three years ago, it was not possible to discuss this topic in our society,” he said.

But now, the existence of armed groups operating outside the state was not acceptable.

“Many political leaders, many political parties have started a discussion and I hope we can convince the leaders of these groups to lay down their arms and then be part of the armed forces under the responsibility of the government,” Hussein said.

Iraq’s balancing act has been tested by attacks by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups on Israel and US troops in a country it says stands in solidarity with the Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war.

The promised cease-fire in Gaza has given the government a sigh of relief, although uncertainty prevails about how the country will fare after Donald Trump becomes US president.

During Trump’s last term as president, relations became strained after he ordered the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020, which led to an Iranian ballistic missile attack on an Iraqi base housing US forces.

“We hope we can continue this good relationship with Washington,” Hussein said. “It is too early to say what policy President Trump will pursue for Iraq or Iran.”

As Iraq tries to chart a diplomatic third path, Hussein said Baghdad was ready to help ease tensions between Washington and Tehran if asked, and pointed to previous mediation between Saudi Arabia and Iran that paved the way for their normalization of relations in 2023.

SYRIA

The armed revolution in neighboring Syria is viewed with concern.

The Islamist rebels now in power in Damascus were among the Sunni Muslim militants who swept into majority-Shiite Iraq from Syria after the US-led invasion in 2003, sparking years of sectarian warfare.

The Islamic State crossed the same path a decade later and carried out bloody massacres before being defeated by an international military coalition led by the US, Iraqi security forces and factions siding with Iran.

Iraq will be convinced of Syria only when it sees an inclusive political process, Hussein said, adding that Baghdad will supply the country with grain and oil when it can be ensured that it will go to all Syrians.

Baghdad is in talks with the Syrian foreign minister about visiting Iraq, he said.

“We are concerned about ISIS, so we are in contact with the Syrian side to discuss these things, but at the end of the day, having a stable Syria means having a representative of all components in the political process.”

Baghdad and Washington agreed last year to end the US-led coalition by September 2026 and transition to bilateral military ties, but Hussein said developments in Syria would have to be monitored.

“First of all, we think about the security of Iraq and stability in Iraq. If there will be threats to our country, of course it will be a different story,” he said.

“But at this point we don’t see a threat.”