Iraq issues ultimatum: Iranian militias given deadline until September 30

The Prime Minister of Iraq, Ali al-Zaidi, is drawing a clear red line for the armed factions in the country, granting them an extension until September 30 to disarm and hand over their weapons to the state. The move, which is causing widespread repercussions in the Arab world, could drag the country into a deep internal crisis, as the Prime Minister does not intend to back down from his demand.

Two Iraqi political sources confirmed that al-Zaidi has already updated the country's senior political leadership that he is preparing for a scenario of "confrontation" and direct "clash" against those militias that refuse to cooperate and insist on keeping their weapons even after the ultimatum expires.

This dramatic move comes against the backdrop of frantic behind-the-scenes contacts. A senior Iraqi security official spoke with Agence France-Presse (AFP) and revealed that there is currently "intense communication at the highest levels with Iran's Revolutionary Guards," with the aim of resolving the issue of the armed factions and ensuring that the monopoly on weapons remains exclusively in the hands of the official security forces.

Simultaneously, the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, gave a tailwind to the government's efforts in Baghdad. In a television interview with the "Al-Sharqiya News" network, Barzani said that during his recent meetings in Tehran, Iranian officials expressed a surprising willingness to help the Iraqi government restrain the groups close to them. According to him, the Iranian officials conveyed a direct message through him:

"Tell Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi that we are ready to help him in this matter of collecting weapons."

These developments, which were also cited by the "Al-Arabiya" network, come in the shadow of heavy American pressure on Baghdad to restrain the militias loyal to Tehran. This promise has been a cornerstone of al-Zaidi's policy since he took office in mid-May last year, a move that received the blessing of the USA. The choice of the date, September 30, is not accidental. This date coincides with the end of the mandate of the international coalition led by Washington against the "Islamic State" (ISIS) organization, a military presence that has served until now as the main excuse for some of the armed factions to justify continuing to carry weapons, while some of them still strictly refuse to cooperate.

Since 2003, Iraq has found itself torn in an attempt to maintain a delicate balance between Washington and Tehran, serving as a wrestling arena between the two powers. The tension has reached a boiling point since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East at the end of last February following the American-Israeli attack on Iran. According to reports, since the beginning of the conflict, the Kurdistan Region has suffered over a thousand attacks, ranging from attacks by Iraqi factions against American interests, to direct bombings by Iran on targets of the Kurdish-Iranian opposition staying in northern Iraq. Simultaneously, those same militias have also tried time and again to hit American bases across the country, and have expanded their hostile activity towards a number of neighboring countries in the region.