Iraq is not-so-seriously attempting to exert control over militias and weapons

After months of pressure on Iraq from Washington to disarm Iran-backed militias, reports are emerging that more militants are integrating into the country’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Iraq is likely attempting to satisfy the Trump Administration by billing this integration as dismantling armed factions and bringing weapons under state control. However, if the PMF’s weapons are considered state-controlled arms, it’s only if the state referred to is the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iraqi media reported that 20,000 militants have integrated into the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and other Iraqi government security branches. The PMF is a conglomeration of militias, almost exclusively backed by Iran, that formed to fight the Islamic State (IS) in 2014 as an element of the Iraqi government. The PMF is nominally under the authority of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani. However, its members largely answer to Iran instead. The leader of one PMF militia went so far as to say that he would overthrow the Iraqi government if Iran’s supreme leader requested it.

The integration claim is unconfirmed but follows reports that armed factions agreed to integrate into the PMF after the Eid al Fitr holiday at the end of March. An unnamed source told Shafaq News that “Iraq has 34 armed groups, most of which are already part of the PMF. Fewer than a dozen remain outside the system but are expected to be folded into units under Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s direct command.”

Commanders of four major Iran-backed militias in Iraq told Reuters on April 7 that they would be willing to disarm. The four militias represented by the individuals who spoke to Reuters, Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyed al Shuhada, and Ansarullah al Awfiyya, are all elements of the PMF but were only described in the interview as members of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI). The IRI served as a front group for Iran-backed militias in Iraq to launch attacks against the United States and Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Official militia spokespeople for these groups were quick to deny the statements made to Reuters.

The Trump administration has been pressuring Iraq to disarm Iran-backed militias as part of its emphasis on “reducing Iran’s malign influence” in Iraq and across the region. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said the government was attempting to convince militias to disarm in January of 2025, but the alleged integration of 20,000 militants into the PMF is the first indication of what Iraqi leaders consider progress.

Iraqi leaders do not contest the American demand that the state should control weapons. Ammar al Hakim, a leader in the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shiite parties ruling Iraq, said, “Military power undoubtedly resides with the state, and the possession of arms should be exclusively in its hands.” However, leaders also describe the PMF as an essential state institution. In January 2025, Prime Minister Sudani said, “Today, the Popular Mobilization Forces constitute a basic force in defending Iraq.”

By describing militias as unaffiliated or discussing their involvement in unsanctioned activity, Iraq is trying to bill these groups’ integration into the PMF as an improvement over a rogue status. However, in reality, joining the PMF only provides these militias a veneer of legitimacy. State cover will enable them to carry out terrorist activities at the behest of their Iranian sponsor with weapons licensed and funded by the Iraqi government, which approved a $3.5 billion budget for the PMF.

Iraqi lawmakers introduced two pieces of legislation concerning the PMF in 2025, but the first was withdrawn, and the second stalled. Neither were intended to reform the PMF but rather further enshrine the organization in Iraqi law to prevent future administrations from disbanding it.

The current regime in Iraq isn’t trying to reform the Iran-backed militia landscape. Instead, it’s merely attempting to legitimize and solidify the Iranian influence and weapons that have destabilized the country for years.

Bridget Toomey is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focusing on Iranian proxies, specifically Iraqi militias and the Houthis.