March 15, 2026 | The National Interest
How Iraq Is the New Frontline of the Iran War
Iranian-backed militias in Iraq are seeking to tie down US forces in the Middle East.
March 15, 2026 | The National Interest
How Iraq Is the New Frontline of the Iran War
Iranian-backed militias in Iraq are seeking to tie down US forces in the Middle East.
Excerpt
Iran is seeking to inflame Iraq and drag it into an ever-widening conflict in the Middle East. In the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28, there have been numerous attacks in Iraq by Iran and Iranian-backed militias. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on March 9 and “condemned terrorist attacks by Iran and Iran-aligned terrorist militia groups in Iraq, including in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.”
In the wake of the call, the attacks have increased. Kurdish media outlet Rudaw estimates that there have been more than 270 drone and missile attacks on the autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq. These attacks have targeted US forces as well as other members of the anti-ISIS Coalition. In addition, they have targeted bases of Kurdish Iranian opposition groups. Italy said on March 12 that it believes an attack on its forces in Iraq was deliberate.
While the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have been attacking, there has also been retaliation against the militias. The militias are part of a larger organization called the Popular Mobilization Forces. The PMF was founded in 2014 as part of Iraq’s attempt to recruit young men to fight ISIS. Most of the PMF ranks come from the Shia community of Iraq.
The PMF is not a single organization but is composed of dozens of brigades from different groups, such as Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, the Badr Organization, and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada. There have been numerous airstrikes on camps and bases of these militias since February 28. Several dozen PMF members have been killed. Iraq’s Ministry of Defense said on March 13 that kamikaze drones targeted one unit of the PMF. Social media reports have claimed this may be a deployment of the new US-made LUCAS drone.
Seth Frantzman is the author of Drone Wars: Pioneers, Killing Machine, Artificial Intelligence and the Battle for the Future(Bombardier 2021) and an adjunct fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies.