Iraqi Voices Debate the Future of Resistance Weapons Amid Alleged U.S. Pressure
An Iraqi political analyst says Washington is seeking to disarm resistance groups, while a former lawmaker calls for regulated weapons under a government framework rather than confiscation.
A report citing Iraqi political figures says Washington is pressuring Baghdad to disarm resistance groups. While one analyst supports preserving their weapons, a former parliamentarian advocates gradual state regulation through a dedicated government committee rather than confiscation.
An Iraqi political analyst, Wissam Aziz, has accused the United States of seeking to disarm resistance groups in Iraq and the wider region, according to a report by Iran’s IRNA citing the Iraqi outlet Al-Malouma. Aziz said U.S. President Donald Trump was continuing to intervene in Iraqi domestic affairs through envoy Tom Barrack and other political figures visiting the country.
Aziz argued that supporters of Iraq’s Islamic resistance were aware of what he described as Western efforts to end the groups’ presence by increasing pressure on Baghdad. He called on the Iraqi government to preserve the weapons of the resistance, portraying them as important for supporting the state and confronting terrorism.
A separate comment from former Iraqi parliamentarian Mohammed Ibrahim presented a more institutional approach. Ibrahim said weapons should be organized rather than confiscated from resistance groups that, in his view, defended Iraq against the threat posed by Islamic State. He proposed establishing a dedicated committee linked to the prime minister’s office and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, with its own budget and a two- or five-year plan for gradual weapons regulation.
The report highlights a central political tension in Iraq: whether armed groups outside the conventional state structure should retain their weapons, and if so, how those weapons could be placed under formal state oversight. The source material reports the claims and proposals of Aziz and Ibrahim but does not independently verify the existence or scope of any current U.S. disarmament initiative, nor does it provide responses from the U.S. government, the Iraqi government, or the armed groups concerned.