Esmail Qaani, head of the IRGC’s Quds Force, held meetings over the Iraqi government’s plan to disarm armed groups and bring weapons under state control, source tells Al Jazeera.
Baghdad, Iraq – An Iraqi source from within the leading Coordination Framework, an umbrella for Shia Iraqi parties, has told Al Jazeera that the commander of the Quds Force in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Esmail Qaani, made an unannounced visit to Baghdad earlier this week.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Qaani held behind-the-scenes meetings with Iraqi political and security leaders, as well as commanders of Shia paramilitaries, on Monday to discuss the Iraqi government’s plan to disarm the armed groups and bring weapons under state control.
“Tehran sent a message via Qaani … no handing over of weapons of the factions at the present time,” the source said, adding that Iran estimates that a new round of war could break out.
“The Iranian message stressed on finding a political compromise instead of sliding into confrontation between the government and the armed factions that refuse to hand over their weapons,” the source said, adding that Iraqi political parties oppose the use of force to implement the government’s plan.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is facing a mounting political and security crisis as a September 30 deadline to restrict all weapons to state control approaches. He told parliament that his government is eager to implement a 2024 deal made with the United States-led coalition’s military mission in Iraq to end its presence as combat forces by the end of September.
The Iraqi government’s push for a monopoly on arms and the disarmament of pro-Iran armed factions, as well as Baghdad’s relationship with Tehran, were among the topics discussed during al-Zaidi’s visit to the US last month, his first foreign trip since taking office in May. Days after meeting US President Donald Trump, al-Zaidi also headed to Tehran, where he held talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
On Tuesday, al-Zaidi directed the parliament’s Security and Defence Committee to prepare a draft law to restrict weapons to the state in accordance with constitutional contexts. He warned that unregulated weapons represent the most dangerous threat to the state as they undermine the authority of the law and the standing of security institutions.
But while a number of armed groups have agreed to integrate into the state’s armed forces, the defiant stance of some powerful Shia paramilitaries, including Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, threatens to derail the government’s efforts.
In a meeting earlier this month, the State Administration Coalition – which includes the most prominent Shia parties, as well as some Sunni and Kurdish political parties – called for the necessity of restricting weapons to the state, and considered the entities carrying out activity that threatens the country’s security outside the official institutions to be “outlaws that must be fought”. The coalition hinted at applying the “Anti-Terrorism Law” to any armed activity after the expiration of the government deadline.
Other Shia leaders are said to be trying to de-escalate and defuse tensions. The head of the Hikma Movement, Ammar al-Hakim, is leading efforts to de-escalate and persuade the factions to move towards restricting weapons to the state during the remaining month of the deadline, a source told Al Jazeera.
Regional security equation
The head of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies, Ghazi Faisal, said the continued retention by the Iraqi factions of their arsenal could transform the issue into a broader security crisis.
“The factions’ use of Iraqi territory and their military capabilities as a platform to target neighbouring countries may push those countries toward a direct response or toward building joint security arrangements to confront the sources of threat,” Faisal said, adding that any new regional security alliances to protect the security of the Gulf and the strategic waterways may find themselves compelled to deal with the armed factions as part of the equation of regional security, not merely as Iraqi political parties.
“The most realistic way out is to firmly establish the principle of restricting weapons and to link the decision of war and peace to the Iraqi constitutional institutions alone, because a state that does not monopolise the decision to use force cannot fully guarantee its national security, according to him,” he said.
Baghdad witnessed last week a security escalation against the backdrop of armed factions’ threats to respond to the Saudi-US attacks that targeted Popular Mobilisation Forces sites late last month.
In a statement, the US Central Command said it had launched joint attacks with Saudi Arabia on July 28 “against Iran-aligned terrorists” that the IRGC had “directed to attack U.S. forces and Saudi energy infrastructure”. The kingdom’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also accused “Iran-backed terrorist militias” in Iraq of choosing “an irresponsible path of escalation” by carrying out drone attacks against Saudi Arabia.
However, efforts by the Iraqi government and political factions succeeded in containing the tension, opening a path towards de-escalation and diplomatic movement.