Shafaq News/ Former Deputy Prime Minister Baha Al-Araji, a close associate of current Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, addressed the rumors on Thursday regarding an international request to dismantle armed factions and dissolve the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq.

"The fear of potential security or political developments in Iraq in the near future is unfounded. There are those who wish to incite internal strife by promoting events that are unlikely to occur, especially on the security and military levels," Al-Araji told Shafaq News.

He added, "The movements and meetings of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Iraq, Mohammed Al-Hassan, are entirely routine, involving consultations with government officials and political leaders. His visit to Iran is also standard, as the UN has an office there, although without a permanent representative. Therefore, it is natural for the mission's representative in Iraq to visit Iran, as has been the case with previous UN representatives in Iraq over the years."

"The PMF is an official Iraqi institution with legislated laws, and the rumors about calls to dissolve it are baseless. As for the armed factions, any decision regarding their dismantling or otherwise is exclusively made by the Iraqi state. It is an internal Iraqi matter, and the decision-makers will determine the fate of these factions. Their existence is tied to the presence of occupation; without this reason, there would be no armed factions."

In recent days, there have been reports in Iraq suggesting imminent changes in Baghdad following the fall of Bashar Al-Assad's regime in Syria. These reports coincided with details of a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Al-Sudani in Baghdad, where Blinken allegedly demanded the dissolution of armed factions, the handover of their weapons to the state, and the reduction of Iran's influence in Iraq.