Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reportedly made an unannounced visit to Baghdad earlier this week to discuss Iraq’s plan to bring all weapons under state control.
An Iraqi source from the Coordination Framework, an umbrella group of Shia political parties, told Al Jazeera that Qaani held private meetings on Monday with Iraqi political and security officials as well as commanders of Shia armed groups.
According to the source, Iran used Qaani’s visit to urge the armed factions not to surrender their weapons at the moment, citing concerns that a new round of regional conflict could erupt.
The source said Tehran favours a political compromise rather than a confrontation between the Iraqi government and armed groups that oppose the disarmament plan.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is under increasing political and security pressure as a September 30 deadline approaches for restricting all weapons to state control. The government has warned that unregulated weapons threaten state authority and the rule of law.
Some armed groups have agreed to integrate into Iraq’s official security forces, but powerful factions including Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba remain opposed to surrendering their weapons.
The Iraqi government has instructed parliament’s Security and Defence Committee to prepare legislation aimed at restricting weapons to the state in accordance with the constitution.
Iraqi political and religious leaders are also working to prevent an escalation. Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Hikma Movement, is reportedly leading efforts to persuade armed factions to accept state control of weapons before the deadline.
The dispute comes amid heightened regional tensions following attacks involving Iran-aligned armed groups. The United States and Saudi Arabia carried out joint strikes on July 28 against what Washington described as Iran-aligned armed groups that had targeted US forces and Saudi energy infrastructure.
Despite the tensions, Iraqi government and political efforts have so far helped contain the situation and opened the door for further diplomatic engagement.
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