Several factions of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) declared Saturday that they will refuse to comply with a recent judicial order requiring member groups to hand their weapons over to the Iraqi state. The order follows sustained pressure from the United States on Baghdad to disarm hardline factions aligned with Iran.
Kata'ib Hezbollah issued a statement rejecting any disarmament effort, declaring it would neither surrender its weapons nor engage in talks with the Iraqi government unless all foreign military forces withdraw fully from Iraq, including U.S. and Turkish troops.
U.S. pressure on Baghdad to disarm PMF groups has intensified over the past year. Under President Donald Trump, Washington has demanded that six factions within the PMF be disbanded: Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, and Kataib Imam Ali. Last month, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reportedly warned Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet al-Abbasi, stating, “This is your final notice — and you know how this administration will respond.”
The targeted factions have positioned themselves as part of the “Islamic Resistance of Iraq,” launching strikes on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria last year in response to Washington’s backing of Israel’s war in Gaza. Those attacks paused after Baghdad brokered an agreement stipulating that all U.S. forces would fully withdraw by September 2026.
The first phase of that withdrawal, relocating U.S. forces out of every province except Kurdistan, was completed in October. However, Washington has since reversed course, announcing that several hundred U.S. military “advisors” would remain due to what it describes as a renewed ISIS threat.
The PMF emerged in 2014 after the collapse of the Iraqi army during the ISIS offensive, playing a pivotal role in recapturing territory. After ISIS’ territorial defeat in 2017, the groups increasingly demanded the withdrawal of U.S. forces, who reentered Iraq in 2014. Their refusal to disarm now underscores concerns among Iraqi political leaders that Baghdad could face fragmentation of command authority and increased risk of renewed conflict.
The standoff comes as the Trump administration simultaneously pressures Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah. Hezbollah leaders, like their Iraqi counterparts, have rejected the demand, insisting that resistance forces will not disarm under foreign pressure.