Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi held two separate meetings in late June with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani, both marked by clear tensions over Iran-backed armed factions and their weapons outside state control, two Iraqi sources familiar with the matter told MBN.
Details of the meetings, verified through two Iraqi sources close to the prime minister and a political source inside the ruling Shiite Coordination Framework, point to a tougher stance by Baghdad toward Iran’s military influence in Iraq. Zaidi’s government is seeking to bring all weapons under state control before the international coalition’s mission ends in September, amid growing U.S. pressure to curb the influence of armed factions.
According to the sources, Zaidi raised the issue of armed factions directly during his meeting with Araghchi, who visited Baghdad on June 28. The Iraqi leader warned of the impact of weapons outside state institutions on Iraq’s sovereignty, foreign relations and governmental authority.
“Would you accept me controlling your security or military file?” the prime minister asked the Iranian foreign minister, according to a source close to Zaidi and another from within the Coordination Framewor. “Would you accept interference in your affairs? Would you allow me to establish armed factions?”
According to the two sources, Araghchi replied: “Of course not.” Zaidi responded: “Then why do you allow yourselves to strengthen armed factions at the expense of the state?”
An adviser in Zaidi’s office told MBN that the questions reflected the prime minister’s emphasis on “the principle of Iraqi sovereignty and the rejection of any foreign interference in Iraq’s security and military affairs.”
The source added that Zaidi stressed during the meeting that the spread of weapons outside official institutions damages Iraq’s relations with the international community, affects its political and diplomatic ties with other countries, and undermines the state’s ability to manage security.
Araghchi did not directly endorse Zaidi’s position but avoided a confrontation, the sources said, adding that the Iranian minister sought to preserve the diplomatic tone of the meeting, saying only: “I will convey your remarks to the leadership in Tehran.”
At an internal meeting last week, Zaidi said, according to a source in his office, that “Iraq no longer needs advisers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Their role must end just as the role of the international coalition in Iraq will end.”
About two days after Araghchi’s visit, Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit.
Three sources, one in the Popular Mobilization Forces, another in the Coordination Framework and a third in the prime minister’s office, confirmed the visit. They said Qaani met Zaidi inside the government palace in Baghdad’s Green Zone.
Few details of the meeting were available, but the sources said the discussion also focused on the relationship between the Iraqi state and armed factions. According to information obtained by MBN, Zaidi’s tone grew sharper during the meeting, as he said Iran should support the Iraqi state and its official institutions, not armed factions at the state’s expense.
A person close to Zaidi said the position was part of a government effort to “enforce the state’s monopoly over weapons and strengthen the authority of official institutions in managing security affairs.”
The meetings come as Iraq’s government has announced a plan to bring weapons under state control ahead of the expected end of the international coalition’s mission in September. They also come amid mounting U.S. pressure on Baghdad to rein in the influence of Iran-linked factions.
Two Iran-linked factions, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib al-Imam Ali, have recently responded to government efforts. Both are designated by the United States as terrorist organizations. Other factions, most notably Kataib Hezbollah, continue to refuse to hand over their weapons, linking any such move to the departure of international coalition forces from Iraq.
In an interview with MBN, Iraqi government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi said the conditions that had driven groups to take up arms in past years had changed, and that the need for weapons outside state control “has now ended with the disappearance of its causes.”
Adapted and translated from the original Arabic.
