🚨🇮🇶 IRAQ AT A CROSSROADS: WHO WILL CONTROL THE FUTURE OF BAGHDAD? 🇮🇶🔥
A major political confrontation is developing in Iraq as Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi faces growing pressure from Iran and factions within the Coordination Framework over his plan to place all weapons under the authority of the Iraqi state.
🇮🇷 According to the report, Iranian officials have intensified their involvement in Baghdad, urging political allies to prevent the government from significantly reducing the military capabilities of the armed factions.
⚔️ THE GOVERNMENT'S POSITION
Al-Zaidi’s government says it remains committed to:
✅ Strengthening the authority of the Iraqi state
✅ Establishing the state’s monopoly over weapons
✅ Upholding the rule of law
✅ Continuing its anti-corruption campaign
✅ Honoring Iraq’s international commitments
🇺🇸 THE U.S. FACTOR
Washington is closely watching what happens next.
Al-Zaidi reportedly committed during his July 14, 2026 visit to the White House to prevent armed factions from maintaining weapons outside state control after the September 30 deadline.
That makes the end of September a potentially critical moment for Iraq.
🔥 THE BIG POLITICAL BATTLE
On one side:
🇮🇶 The Iraqi Government → Stronger state authority and sovereignty.
🇺🇸 The United States → Support for an Iraq free from terrorism and uncontrolled armed groups.
On the other side:
🇮🇷 Iran & allied factions → Preservation of their weapons, influence, and existing balance of power.
💰 WHY THIS MATTERS FOR IRAQ'S ECONOMIC FUTURE
Political stability, control of the state, anti-corruption measures, stronger institutions, and improved international relations can all influence Iraq’s ability to advance its broader economic and monetary reforms.
This article does NOT announce an RV or a new exchange rate.
But it does highlight a critical question:
🔥 CAN IRAQ FULLY STRENGTHEN THE AUTHORITY OF THE STATE AND MOVE FORWARD WITH ITS REFORM AGENDA?
👀 September 30, 2026 could be a date to watch closely.
The next few weeks may reveal whether Al-Zaidi can maintain his course despite pressure from Iran and political factions inside Baghdad.
🇮🇶 IRAQ'S NEXT CHAPTER MAY DEPEND ON WHO CONTROLS THE STATE.
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#Iraq #IraqiDinar #IQD #IraqPolitics #AlZaidi #IraqReforms #Iran #UnitedStates #Baghdad #CoordinationFramework #IraqiGovernment #AntiCorruption #StateAuthority #IraqEconomy #MonetaryReform #EconomicReform #DinarNews #September2026
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THE FRAMEWORK ASKED AL-ZAIDI TO FORGET TRUMP… TEHRAN DELEGATIONS: ATTENTION… WE WILL PREVENT ANY CHANGE IN BAGHDAD
(Mnt Goat: everyone should read this article in full to understand just how bad and crooked these Iranians and Coordination Framework people are. They all need to go! These are the people Al-Zaidi has to deal with on a daily basis. May God Bless him! )
Please say a short prayer for the success of Al-Zaidi and his new government.
Just how bad do you want Iraq to have its riches, how about your riches?
A report by the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reveals pressure that appears deeper than what has surfaced, exerted by Tehran through its recent delegations. This pressure has reached the point where Qalibaf is demanding that the framework forces turn the weapons control file into a “formal and symbolic procedure” and urge them to prevent the government from tampering with the capabilities of the factions because Tehran will not accept changing the “balance of power in Baghdad.”
This has prompted some leaders of the framework to try to convince Al-Zaidi to change his plans regarding weapons and even the anti-corruption campaign, and not to fear too much the threats of “isolation and sanctions” brandished by Trump, as they believe that Washington will still need Iraqi oil. However, the assessment did not convince Al-Zaidi, who reportedly saw resignation as an option if he was forced to backtrack on commitments he had made.
(Mnt Goat: You can clealy see just corrupt the Coordination Framework is by these last two paragraphs. Will Al-Zaidi change his direction? And if he refuses to follow their instructions what will happen to him? Will president Trump protect him somehow?)
While government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi denies the idea of resignation, stating that it has not been and will not be a way to deal with the issue of the factions, Kazem al-Fartousi, spokesman for the “Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades,” confirms that the factions “asked the government to find a strong and reliable alternative to the factions’ weapons that can be depended on, so that they would be convinced to give up their arsenal,” as stated in an article published by writer Ali al-Sarai in “Asharq Al-Awsat.”
This is the newspaper report:
The Iraqi government said on Thursday that Prime Minister Ali al-Zubaidi “does not and will not consider submitting his resignation” in the face of increasing pressure regarding the factions, stressing that it is dealing with this issue as a “constitutional principle that is addressed through legal channels.” Meanwhile, officials and sources reported that parties within the “Coordination Framework” alliance are pushing the government to back down from its plans, after Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf called for turning the arms monopoly into “a mere symbolic project.”
Haider al-Aboudi, spokesman for the Iraqi Prime Minister, told Asharq Al-Awsat in an exclusive statement that “al-Zaidi pledged to the Iraqi people in the government’s program to continue strengthening the prestige of the state and enshrining the rule of law.” The spokesman stressed that “the government has taken effective and important steps in the path of (restricting weapons), and it is committed to completing this approach in accordance with the requirements of Iraq’s sovereignty and national interests.”
According to Al-Aboudi, “The government deals with the issue of weapons as a constitutional principle that is addressed through legal institutions and channels in light of the country’s supreme interest, sovereignty, stability and international relations.”
The government’s stated commitment does not negate the magnitude of the pressures it faces in implementing the plan, especially since al-Zaydi had linked the success of his government from the beginning to its ability to strengthen the authority of the state and fulfill its external obligations.
In response to a question regarding al-Zaidi’s future under these pressures, government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi asserted: “Resignation was not and will not be a means of dealing with the issue of restricting weapons.”
Al-Aboudi confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the Iraqi government is proceeding with its responsibilities and completing the executive steps it has begun, in accordance with a clear national vision that strengthens the authority of the state and preserves the unity of national decision-making and the supreme interests of Iraq.”
The state’s monopoly on weapons was among the commitments previously approved by the forces within the “Coalition for State Administration,” which renewed its support for its implementation on August 6 and called for adherence to the timetable for weapons monopoly steps after September 30, after which, according to the statement, any armed behavior outside the framework of the state will be dealt with under the counter-terrorism law.
Al-Zaidi also pledged, during his visit to the White House on July 14, 2026, not to allow any faction to bear arms in Iraq after the end of the deadline on September 30, which coincides with the withdrawal of US forces.
The symbolic restriction of weapons:
In the past few weeks, the balance of power has shifted following the visit of Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf to Baghdad, according to a leader in the “coordination framework.”
Iranian officials have significantly intensified their visits to Baghdad. Last Monday, Mohsen Qomi, a representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, arrived in Baghdad and attended part of a meeting of the ruling coalition in the presence of al-Zaidi. Prior to that, factions had been leaking news of unannounced visits by Ismail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Qalibaf urged the leaders of the “Coordination Framework” not to abandon the factions, and to work to “prevent the government from ending the factions’ ability to retain their weapons.”
Qalibaf was quoted as saying that the “coordination framework” should play its role in turning the arms control project into “a mere symbolic project,” noting that “Iran will not allow the United States to manipulate the balance of power in Baghdad.” At the conclusion of his visit to Najaf, southwest of Baghdad, Qalibaf stated that “a new security system is being formed in the region, and Iraq is Iran’s first partner in it.”
It appears the factions gained negotiating momentum after receiving urgent assistance from Tehran. A senior advisor to the “State Administration” alliance said, “Iranian officials intervened to demand a postponement of the weapons confiscation plan and a change in its approach; replacing the weapons withdrawal with mutual guarantees, including a pledge from the factions not to use the weapons.”
According to Kadhim al-Fartousi, a spokesman for the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades, “The resistance factions have asked the government to find a strong and reliable alternative to their weapons, something they can depend on, so that they will be convinced to give up their arsenals.” He told Asharq Al-Awsat, “The factions want guarantees regarding the alternative to their weapons.”
Don’t worry about loneliness:
The talk of guarantees reveals how the tone has finally shifted from restricting weapons to regulating them. Two officials within the “coordination framework” stated that some parties within it “translated Iranian pressure into what appeared to be accelerated efforts to push the government to change its plans.”
One of them told Asharq Al-Awsat that leaders in the coalition informed the Prime Minister, during bilateral meetings and public gatherings, that “Baghdad should not be concerned about American sanctions or international isolation if the plan to restrict weapons does not succeed on time.”
There is a prevailing belief in Iraqi circles that allowing the factions run by the “Revolutionary Guard” in Iraq to keep their weapons “will cost a lot,” to the point that the President of the Kurdistan Region said in a televised statement in mid-August that “international isolation is approaching Baghdad if it does not find a solution to the factions’ weapons.”
However, leaders in the “coordination framework,” according to sources, believe that “sanctions or isolation are very far from Iraq in the current situation, because the United States and other countries will still need Iraqi oil to compensate for what they lost from strategic reserves during the war with Iran, and that this will make it difficult to impose broad economic sanctions on Iraq.”
They suggested to the Prime Minister that he adopt this assessment to back down from his plans to restrict the weapons of the factions, and a number of them went so far as to push for “turning the page on the anti-corruption campaign,” considering that “Iraqi oil will be of strategic value to international markets, which will limit Washington’s ability to use economic sanctions against Baghdad.”
But the prime minister “rejected this assessment,” according to sources. A senior official also told Asharq Al-Awsat that al-Zaidi “considers resignation an option should he find himself forced to renege on his international commitments.”
According to a source close to al-Zaydi who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat, “al-Zaydi has a feeling that the coordinating framework and the forces allied with him are treating him as a rival party, and not as a party that bears responsibility in the government that he formed about three months ago.”
The factions do not consider al-Zaidi’s fate a priority. Kazem al-Fartousi told Asharq Al-Awsat, “The prime minister’s resignation is a personal right and a political decision; the matter is handled by the (coordination framework), and it has never been a demand of the factions.”
A new direction under Zaidi’s leadership:
There is a gap between the calculations of the government and its allies within the “coordination framework” regarding the cost of backtracking on Iraq’s international commitments, which could affect its political credibility and the future of its government.
From a Western perspective, the constant fluctuation in the positions of the Shiite forces is a reflection of the Iranian style of postponing crucial decisions.
A Western diplomat who worked in Iraq between 2019 and 2023 tends to believe that “Iran’s allies in Iraq are trying as much as possible to buy time for the regime in Tehran.”
Nevertheless, Washington is trying to cling to its opportunity in Baghdad. A spokesperson for the US State Department, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity, said that “Iraq has embarked on a new path under al-Zaidi’s leadership in full partnership with the United States,” adding that Washington supports his vision of “an Iraq free of terrorism” and of preventing “attacks from and on Iraqi soil.”
A political advisor in the “Coordination Framework” reported that the US Chargé d’Affaires, Joshua Harris, informed leaders in the “Coordination Framework” that his country “is eagerly awaiting the end of next September to achieve the primary goal of imposing state authority and ending the influence of uncontrolled weapons.”