US FEARS THE POPULAR MOBILIZATION LAW… “IT THREATENS WASHINGTON’S INTERESTS AND CREATES A NEW REVOLUTIONARY GUARD.”
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy called on the US administration, headed by Donald Trump, to send a “calm and firm” message to the Iraqi government regarding the risks of passing a new law related to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), warning that this legislation would transform the PMF into an entity similar to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The institute stated in a report translated by Shafaq News Agency that “the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have been considered a threat to US national security interests and Iraqi civilians for years,” noting that “US-designated terrorists hold senior leadership positions within the PMF, including the head of the organization and the chief of staff, exploiting this institutional structure to secure government salaries for tens of thousands of militia members affiliated with designated terrorist groups such as Kata’ib Hezbollah and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq.”
He considered that “these practices represent blatant manipulation,” noting that “Baghdad is currently studying two legislative projects that could grant the Popular Mobilization Forces greater legitimacy as a national security institution. The first is the Popular Mobilization Forces Service and Retirement Law, which the report described as internally aiming to remove leaders of rival militias. The second, and more important, is the amended Popular Mobilization Forces Authority Law, which restructures the Mobilization Forces within a formal framework resembling a ministerial institution.”
According to the report, passing the new law would consolidate the Popular Mobilization Forces, which number approximately 238,000 members, as a parallel armed force with powers at the local and regional levels. The report emphasized that “the legislation will consolidate the Popular Mobilization Forces’ status as a permanent structure within the Iraqi security sector, not as an emergency force, but rather as a ministry-like institution that would be difficult to reform or dissolve later.”
He also warned that the draft law explicitly refers to the Popular Mobilization Forces as the “guarantor of the political system,” led by Shiite factions since 2003, similar to the role of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. This weakens the standing and prestige of the Iraqi armed forces and grants the militias broad powers that could include “militarizing the political process, from candidate registration to voting and government formation.”
The report also warned that the legislation could encourage militias to repeat the violence against demonstrators and civil society organizations, as occurred during the 2019 protests, it said.
He called on the Trump administration to act quickly and convey its clear objections to officials in Baghdad, via direct messages to the President, Prime Minister, and Speaker of Parliament, to prevent the bill from being referred to the House of Representatives for ratification. He noted that such a step would not require a significant American effort, but rather a “firm signal behind the scenes.”
He pointed out that the current tense regional situation presents Washington with a powerful opportunity to exert pressure, as the United States is redeploying its forces extensively, while Iraqi militias are keen to remain outside the US targeting circle. This provides Washington with leverage that must be used wisely to prevent “the birth of a new Revolutionary Guard in the heart of the region,” as the report put it.
According to the report, the institute called on decision-makers in the White House and the US embassy in Baghdad to urgently reinforce this message and shift from quiet pressure tools to more vocal ones, including imposing sanctions on the Popular Mobilization Forces as a whole, as Washington previously did with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
He explained that “these sanctions will have a broad financial impact within the Iraqi financial system, given that the Popular Mobilization Forces receive their salaries from the Iraqi government.”
The report continued, stating that “early US action to block this legislation would demonstrate the Trump administration’s awareness of the delicate developments in Iraq and its ability to deter Iranian-backed groups without waiting for a military escalation via drones or kidnappings and killings of Americans.”
The report concluded with a recommendation not to be satisfied with warnings, but to take concrete steps, such as imposing immediate sanctions on the General Engineer Company, the economic wing of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which the report likened to the Khatam al-Anbiya Foundation, the economic conglomerate affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has long been subject to international sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations.
