Shafaq News- Washington
The United States pressed Iraq to disarm “Iran-aligned militias” and curb Iranian influence, tying deeper economic and defense cooperation to measurable results, US officials said Wednesday during Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's visit to Washington.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said those groups were responsible for more than 600 attacks on US personnel this spring, during the US-Israel-Iran war, adding that Iraq must assert its sovereignty and “disarm the militias,” and progress on that demand would open the way to commercial and defense ties.
He said Washington was also looking to the Iraqi Security Forces, including the Peshmerga and other security forces of the Kurdistan Region, the autonomous Kurdish-run area of northern Iraq, to lead operations against ISIS as the US-led coalition mission winds down. "A secure Iraq opens the door to strong commercial and defense cooperation."
I hosted Iraqi PM Ali al-Zaidi at the Pentagon today.To deepen our partnership, Iraq must assert its sovereignty and disarm the Iran-aligned militias responsible for 600+ attacks on U.S. personnel this spring. The U.S. is also looking to the Iraqi Security Forces, including… pic.twitter.com/QbbLMMgTRY
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) July 15, 2026
Earlier, a senior official in the US administration told Shafaq News that curbing the Iranian influence, halting attacks launched from Iraqi soil "by Iran-backed militias," and demonstrating measurable results on disarmament are the core demands Washington is placing before Baghdad. The official added that Washington would base its decisions on conduct and measurable results rather than commitments, and that it was following internal Iraqi discussions on disarming some factions.
The official tied future cooperation directly to implementation, arguing that a government under Iranian control could not put Iraq's own interests first or keep the country out of regional conflicts.
Trump, standing alongside al-Zaidi at the White House, said US forces would leave Iraq by September 30 and that the military was no longer needed, pointing to Iraq's growing relationships with oil companies.
Read more: Iraq PM al-Zaidi to Washington with energy deals front, “militia file” unresolved
Al-Zaidi told reporters that the US forces would be out while US companies would remain. The Pentagon said the move reaffirmed a 2024 agreement, reached under the Biden administration, to end the US mission against ISIS in Iraq. He did not mention Iran-aligned groups, but rather, he confirmed during the meeting with Trump that the government had received weapons from some armed factions, with restricting arms to the state a core pillar of his government's program.
“It is to restrict the possession of weapons to the state. This is a decision. It is not an option,” al-Zaidi stressed.
During his current visit to Washington, the prime minister ordered the formation of an Iraqi committee to negotiate the future security and military relationship with the United States after the withdrawal. His military spokesperson, Sabah al-Numan, pointed out that the committee would work with US officials to define the framework of future cooperation before the coalition mission concludes on September 30.
Read more: US-Iraq security agreements keep failing
The United States invaded Iraq in March 2003 over claims, later unproven, that Saddam Hussein held weapons of mass destruction, and its presence peaked at more than 170,000 troops in 2007 before a drawdown that ended combat operations in December 2011. US and coalition forces returned in 2014 at Baghdad's invitation to counter ISIS, and about 2,500 troops had remained for training and partnered operations before the 2024 withdrawal agreement.
Al-Zaidi's official visit to Washington continues until July 18, during which Iraq will sign more than 18 partnership agreements with the United States. The deals cover politics, the economy, industry, energy, oil, education, health, investment, and armament, according to another source.
Read more: Al-Zaidi at the White House: A sustainable partnership or continued crisis management?