Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s Harakat Al-Nujaba (HAN) leader Akram Al-Kaabi on Wednesday rejected US-backed calls to disarm Iraqi armed factions, describing the groups’ weapons as a red line that would “never be surrendered.”

Al-Kaabi accused Israel of directly pushing the US embassy in Iraq to raise the issue of “resistance weapons,” while criticizing what he described as a small number of Iraqis acting as “mouthpieces” for Washington and Tel Aviv.

The factions had “protected Iraq from ISIS and its American masters” and would not hand over their weapons “even if lives are sacrificed,” he said.

HAN operates within the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), an umbrella network of Iran-aligned factions that has claimed more than 750 attacks on US targets across Iraq and the region since the start of the 2026 US-Israeli conflict with Iran. Targets have included the US Embassy in Baghdad, Baghdad International Airport, airports in the Kurdistan Region, and energy infrastructure.

A day earlier, the US State Department announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to Al-Kaabi, the latest move in an expanding US campaign targeting leaders of Iran-aligned Iraqi factions. Washington had previously announced similar rewards for Kataib Sayyed Al-Shuhada leader Abu Alaa Al-Walaei and Ansar Allah Al-Awfiya leader Haider Al-Gharawi.

According to the US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program, the faction leaders are accused of heading Iran-backed groups involved in attacks on US diplomatic facilities, military personnel, and Iraqi civilians.

On April 27, caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani issued directives calling for tighter measures against armed groups operating outside state authority and penalties for security officials failing to enforce the orders.

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