Exclusive: Iran denies connection to Iraqi armed factions; asserts continued support, 22 DEC

 Exclusive: Iran denies connection to Iraqi armed factions; asserts continued support

Shafaq News/ On Saturday, Iranian affairs researcher Mojtaba Haidari denied any connection between Tehran and Iraqi resistance factions, emphasizing that the decision to dissolve these factions is "an Iraqi choice," however, as long as the resistance exists, "Iran will continue to support it."

Haidari told Shafaq News Agency, "The decision to dissolve the factions is uncertain, and fundamentally, the resistance is self-sustained in Iraq and not related to Iran. Iran supports the resistance but did not establish it."

"Successive Iraqi governments have asked Iran, given its good relations with the resistance factions, to intervene and talk to them to reduce tensions, especially regarding the targeting of American forces in Iraq. Iran has understood these requests."

Haidari explained that "Tehran realizes that Baghdad's stability will also benefit Iran, given its internal problems and sanctions. Therefore, Iraq's security positively impacts Iran, while problems in Iraq would negatively affect it."

He confirmed that "given the current events, it is unlikely that anyone will call for the dissolution of the factions, especially with the existing threats to Iraq. Everyone is aware of these threats and the seriousness of the situation, so Iraqis themselves will support the resistance."

In recent days, there have been reports in Iraq suggesting that change is coming to Baghdad following the fall of Bashar Al-Assad's regime in Syria. This coincided with the revelation of details from a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani in Baghdad, where Blinken called for the dissolution of the factions and the handover of their weapons to the state, as well as limiting Iran's influence in Iraq.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Baha al-Araji, close to the current Iraqi PM, confirmed to Shafaq News Agency that "fears of security or political developments in Iraq in the coming period are far from reality, especially since there are those who want to ignite internal strife to promote events that cannot happen in Iraq, particularly on the security and military levels."

Al-Araji pointed out that "the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) is an official Iraqi institution with legislated law, and the talk about calls to dissolve the PMF is unfounded. As for the armed factions, any decision regarding their dismantling or otherwise is exclusively made by the Iraqi state. It is an internal Iraqi issue, and the decision-makers will determine whether these factions remain or not. Even the factions themselves are contingent on the presence of occupation; without this reason, there would be no armed factions."