Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on Thursday announced June 30 as a new deadline for armed factions to turn over their weapons to the state, following the end of the US-led coalition’s mission in the country.
“October 1 is considered a serious beginning to address the issue of weapons outside state control… according to a clear roadmap and agreed timelines extending no later than June 30, 2027,” Zaidi said in a statement, having backed away from an original September 30 deadline.
The Iraqi government believes the withdrawal of coalition forces will deprive the armed factions, many of which are backed by Iran, of the excuse they have used to retain their arsenal.
“Based on the constitutional principle, the decision of war and peace should be left to the constitutional authorities, banning all military action to the contrary,” Zaidi said on Thursday. The Guards “congratulate the proud nation of Iraq, the united front of the Islamic Resistance, and the revolutionary fighters of the Islamic world on this historic victory,” they said in a statement carried by official media. Iraqi armed factions backed by Tehran said Wednesday that they were “not bound by any timeline or agreement” to surrender their weapons to the state. A military spokesman for Kataeb Hezbollah, Jaafar al-Husseini, said at an event to celebrate the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces that the factions had been in talks on “regulating” their weapons but “have not yet received a response from the Iraqi government”. “A government that doesn’t work for the good of its people will be brought down by all possible means,” it said.
