Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s four top state authorities will discuss on Monday how to deal with armed factions that refuse to surrender their weapons after the September 30 deadline and how to pursue corruption suspects without political exceptions, an informed source told Shafaq News.

Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi, Parliament Speaker Haibet Al-Halbousi, President Nizar Amedi, and Supreme Judicial Council President Faiq Zidan will attend the meeting.

The State Administration Coalition, which brings together Iraq’s main Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish political forces, set September 30 as the deadline for bringing weapons under state authority and warned that armed activity outside official institutions would fall under Iraq’s Anti-Terrorism Law. The date also marks the scheduled end of the US-led Coalition’s military mission in Iraq.

Read more: Days to disarm Iraq's factions: deadline or negotiable ceiling?

However, using force to disarm factions could trigger internal conflict, Badr Organization political bureau chief Mohammad Naji Mohammad warned on August 13, arguing that faction leaders should be included in the process. Former premier Nouri Al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition has proposed leaving an interval between the US withdrawal timetable and the weapons-control process to “reassure” armed factions. The proposal remains “under consideration.”

On corruption, Al-Zaidi declared on August 10 that there would be “no red lines” in pursuing suspects, reinforcing the Dawn Crackdown campaign launched on June 28.

Read more: Corruption arrests in Iraq pass 210 under PM al-Zaidi

Iraq’s financial pressures will also feature in the talks as disruption in the Strait of Hormuz continues to weigh on oil exports and government finances, the source said. Oil provides roughly 90% of state revenue, while 96% to 97% of Iraqi crude exports normally pass through the strait. Exports have recovered to more than two million barrels per day after falling below one million early in the war, but remain well below pre-war levels.