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topicnews · July 18, 2025

Iraq: The US security warning raises the risk of Shiite political groups

Iraq: The US security warning raises the risk of Shiite political groups

2025-07-18T17: 28: 09+00: 00

Shafaq News – Baghdad

In a significant development that re -formulated the dynamics of power of Iraq and the voices within the country's Shiite religious and political establishment of the country demanded the disarmament of non -state militias and the strengthening of state authority, the Anlaysis published on Thursday, published on Thursday, shared the Washington Institute for the Middle East Policy.

The coordinated messaging indicates an in -depth crack between the traditional religious leadership of Iraq and Iran -oriented armed groups that work outside the government's control.

On June 26, Abdul Mahdi Al-Karbalai, the official representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, received a sermon in Karbala, which called for a fundamental reform and enforcement of state authority in Iraq. Karbalai emphasized that the future of the country depends on the implementation of a national governance framework that is rooted in integrity and institutional legitimacy.

With regard to “the top religious authority” – the characteristics of Ayatullah Sistani – the sermon demanded that Iraqi elites comply with external interventions in all forms, maintain the rule of law, limit weapons to state authorities and combat corruption at all levels. Karbalai's comments were widely interpreted as an implicit criticism of the self-proclaimed Muqawama (resistance), the collection of Iran-supported militias that operated outside the state's control, despite the state under the command of the prime minister.

This message was quickly reproduced by Shiite spiritual and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who issued a direct and clear demand on July 4th to dissolve the militias and to restore the state's monopoly on armed violence. Sadr explained in the social media: “The untruth should not be rejected, except by handing over uncontrolled weapons to the state, dissolving the militias, strengthening the army and the police and ensuring the independence of Iraq, without the corrupt and serious striving for reforms and responsibility for the responsibility of corrupt accountability.”

Together, these statements mark an escalating confrontation between the nationalist religious authorities of Iraq and the firmly anchored influence of the militias supported by Iran. With increasing tensions, the demands to dissolve these armed groups could create the prerequisites for a broader political and security reform in Baghdad.

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