Iraqi government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi announced on Monday, June 29, that the government has given Shiite armed groups backed by the Iranian regime until September 30 this year to surrender their weapons.
The announced deadline coincides with the end of the U.S.-led international coalition’s mission against ISIS in Iraq.
The announcement comes ahead of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s visit to the United States, as Washington has been pressuring Baghdad to ensure the disarmament of these groups.
The deadline for the Iran-backed groups was announced one day after Iranian regime Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Baghdad.
Haider al-Aboudi, the Iraqi government spokesperson, said during his weekly press conference, “A specific date has been announced to all armed groups for resolving this issue (disarmament)… That date is September 30, which also coincides with the end of the international coalition’s presence.”
He added that after that date, any weapons outside the authority of the state would be subject to legal prosecution.
At the same time as Araghchi’s visit to Iraq, Iraqi security forces, backed by the army, raided Baghdad’s Green Zone early Sunday to arrest several senior officials. According to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), 47 people, including government officials and several members of parliament, were arrested as part of an anti-corruption campaign.
Some reports indicate that a number of those arrested are figures backed by Tehran.
Iraq hosts dozens of powerful armed groups backed by Iran, many of which are part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also known as Hashd al-Shaabi.
Many of these groups were formed following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and expanded their power and influence after 2014 during the campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS).
In recent months, under intense U.S. pressure, Iraqi officials have announced plans to fully integrate all Popular Mobilization Forces factions into the state’s security forces so that the government holds the exclusive authority to bear arms.
The Baghdad government also intends to incorporate brigades currently operating outside the PMF’s official structure into this integration process.
The move comes after some PMF factions launched attacks against U.S. interests in Iraq following the outbreak of the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran in March 2026.
In response, Washington carried out strikes against these groups and subsequently suspended the transfer of Iraq’s oil revenues under an arrangement established after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
During the 40-day war and the subsequent ceasefire, reports also emerged of attacks by these groups against other countries. In May 2026, the United Arab Emirates announced that drones launched toward one of its nuclear power plants had originated from Iraq.
The Iraqi Shiite groups were not the Iranian regime’s only proxy force involved in the war. Hezbollah in Lebanon also began launching rocket attacks into northern Israel shortly after the conflict started, prompting extensive Israeli air and ground operations across Lebanon.
Iraqi officials had been working to fully integrate the Popular Mobilization Forces into the state’s security forces well before the Iran war began. However, some of these groups have argued that the continued presence of U.S. forces in Iraq justifies delaying the disarmament process.
In early June, Iraqi officials announced that they had received information on the weapons held by Kataib Imam Ali, an Iranian regime-backed armed group, a move regarded as the first step in the plan to integrate these groups into the state security forces.
Shortly before that, two groups aligned with the Iranian regime—Kataib Imam Ali and Asaib Ahl al-Haq—announced that they would transfer control of their brigades within the Popular Mobilization Forces to the Iraqi government.
