Iran-backed militias in Iraq ‘ready’ to disarm

Several powerful Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq are prepared to disarm for the first time to avert the threat of an escalating conflict with the US Trump administration, 10 senior commanders and Iraqi officials told Reuters.

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The move to defuse tensions follows repeated warnings issued privately by US officials to the Iraqi government since Mr Trump took power in January, according to the sources who include six local commanders of four major militias.

The officials told Baghdad that unless it acted to disband the militias operating on its soil, America could target the groups with airstrikes, the people added.

Izzat al-Shahbandar, a senior Shia Muslim politician close to Iraq’s government, told Reuters that discussions between Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and several militia leaders were “very advanced”, and the groups were inclined to comply with US calls for disarmament.

“The factions are not acting stubbornly or insisting on continuing their current form. The sides adding that the groups were “fully aware” they could be targeted by the US.