Farewell To Arms: Iran’s Proxies in Iraq Agree to Disarm

Multiple Iranian-backed militias in Iraq are prepared to lay down arms for the first time in years in an attempt to avoid escalating conflict with the United States, Reuters reported Monday.

Senior militia leaders from groups such as Kataib Hezbollah and Ansarullah al-Awfiyaa told the newswire that their main ally and backer, the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), had given them its blessing to do whatever was necessary to avoid a potential conflict with the US.

The IRGC has not commented on the proposed talks.

“Trump is ready to take the war with us to worse levels, we know that, and we want to avoid such a bad scenario,” a commander of Kataib Hezbollah, the most powerful Shi’ite militia, told Reuters.

The armed groups are part of the Islamic Resistance of Iraq, an umbrella organization made up of 10 Shi’ite armed factions that command around 50,000 fighters and are equipped with long-range missiles and anti-aircraft weaponry.

The group has claimed responsibility for a series of missile and drone attacks on Israel and US forces in Iraq and Syria since the war in the Gaza Strip erupted in October 2023.

The disarmament talks come after weeks of US warnings to Iraq. US officials reportedly told the militias that Washington would launch airstrikes targeting them if Iraq did not rein them in and disband the groups.

Some factions have reportedly already reduced their presence in cities such as Mosul and Anbar while also taking security precautions amid fears of imminent US strikes. Many commanders have reportedly gone into hiding, changing phones, vehicles, and locations.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is leading the talks, with proposals on the table including integrating fighters into Iraq’s national army or reconstituting the groups as political parties.

The prime minister’s adviser said the government is committed to bringing all weapons under state control through “constructive dialogue.”

Iraq is caught between its American and Iranian alliances, with the militias having grown into a parallel power structure since emerging after the 2003 US invasion.

Former officials cautioned that a failure to rein the groups in now could invite external intervention.

While some factions have agreed in principle to disarm and join the political process, others – including Kataib Hezbollah – have rejected calls to lay down “their weapons with the presence of the (US) occupation on the nation’s soil,” according to the National, a United Arab Emirates-based outlet.

Still, observers noted that the recent shift comes also as Iran’s armed proxies in the Middle East – known as the “Axis of Resistance” – have been dealt major blows since the Gaza conflict began 18 months ago.

At the time, Iranian-backed Hamas launched a surprise attack that killed around 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage, prompting Israel to launch a major offensive in the Palestinian enclave.

The conflict also dragged in Iran’s other proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and the militias in Iraq.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah have suffered severe losses after operations by Israel, while the Houthis have been targeted by US airstrikes, which escalated last month.

At the same time, the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad – another key Iranian ally – has further weakened Iran’s influence in the region.