Exclusive: An Iraqi faction handed over drones and missiles to the government

A senior Iraqi official in Baghdad told The New Arab on Wednesday, 19 August, that an armed faction had handed over several drones and missiles with a range of more than 100 kilometres to the Iraqi government in the presence of US representatives.

The handover took place at a site near Baghdad several days ago, as part of Iraqi government efforts to make convincing progress for the United States, which has threatened to impose economic and financial sanctions on Iraq if Iran-aligned groups continue to retain their own weapons arsenals.

The Iraqi government continues to conceal a large part of the file concerning the state monopoly on weapons, including the mechanism for receiving and handing over weapons and the type of weapons handed over, as part of internal understandings to stem political disputes.

The positions of the 69 armed factions regarding surrendering their weapons to the Iraqi government vary. All are affiliated with the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), but a large proportion of them are connected to this umbrella only through receiving monthly salaries.

The main factions most closely linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard continue to refuse to hand over their weapons and threatened to confront the government if it decides to resort to force.

They have announced conditions that observers describe as impossible to meet, most notably the withdrawal of US and Turkish forces, the dissolution of the Peshmerga forces, Iraq having control over its political, economic and financial decisions, and the expulsion of US companies from the country.

These positions were set out in statements and comments issued in recent weeks by Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataib al-Awfiya and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada.

Other factions, most notably Al-Badala, Badr and Al-Tufuf, have remained silent.

On Wednesday, a senior Iraqi security official told The New Arab that an armed faction, which has a political wing and a parliamentary bloc, had voluntarily handed over about 20 Iranian-made fixed-wing drones to the government.

The handover took place in the presence of US representatives, who observed the process at a site outside Baghdad.

He explained that the drones were one-way suicide aircraft with ranges of more than 250 kilometres, powered by fuel engines, and that the process was filmed.

The Iraqi official said the weapons targeted for disarmament were drones and cross-border missiles with ranges of more than 100 kilometres since the US was not concerned with conventional weapons such as artillery, mortars and machine guns.

None of the factions responding to the state weapons monopoly initiative has announced the types of weapons they have handed over to the state.

The most prominent of these factions are Saraya al-Salam, the military wing of the Sadrist movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr, and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, led by Qais al-Khazali, which announced it had severed its brigades' affiliation.

Some of its leaders are involved in procedures to hand over weapons or place them at the disposal of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the head of government.

Kataib Imam Ali, led by Shibl al-Zaydi, also chose to sever its military affiliation and placed some of its capabilities under the command of the head of government.

Many questions remain over the types, nature and effectiveness of the weapons. And so far, no one has responded to numerous reports claiming that the weapons were nothing more than "scrap".

But The New Arab has obtained new information concerning the type of weapons from a senior commander in an Iraqi faction that handed over its weapons to the state.

"The process of bringing the factions' weapons under state control is not as complicated as is being portrayed in the media or in political and security analysis," the senior commander said. "Bringing the weapons under state control means drones whose range reaches the occupied Palestinian territories."

"One of the factions handed over this type of aircraft in a process involving Iraqi forces and representatives of the faction itself, in the presence of personnel affiliated with the US Embassy," he added. "These personnel filmed the handover and the blessing of this transformation."

The commander, who refused to disclose his identity, noted: "The Iraqi factions have all types of weapons possessed by the Iraqi army, except for warplanes. Some have modern and advanced technologies for monitoring and tracking air and military movements. The majority of these weapons and technologies are imported from Iran as part of Iran providing the factions with expertise through Iranian advisers and officers who have been working in Iraq for more than a decade."

"These technologies increased during the war against Islamic State and continued to expand after 2020, particularly after the assassination of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis," he continued.

"At that point, Iran provided its allied factions with significant human, technical and training resources, specifically Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada and Kataib Hezbollah. Therefore, the weapons possessed by these factions cannot be considered scrap or ordinary. They are advanced and important, which is why they refuse to hand them over in any way."

"Harakat al-Nujaba categorically refuses to hand over its weapons and is relying on the Iranian role to suppress the campaign to bring weapons under state control in Iraq through Iranian officials who have visited Iraq in recent weeks," added the commander.

"The latest was parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who, in the first moments after arriving in Baghdad, made comments supporting the resistance factions in a clear challenge to the authority of Iraq, which is moving towards restricting and curbing the role of the factions. As for Kataib Hezbollah, it has held more than one meeting with government and judicial council officials. Despite the tensions, the talks are continuing at a slow pace," he said.

Regarding the factions' headquarters or weapons depots, the commander said, "The faction leaders are keen not to talk about their headquarters or the tunnels they possess. This file is extremely secret, and even some Iranian leaders do not know about them."

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf made an official visit to Iraq on Wednesday, 19 August, as US pressure intensified on the Tehran-allied factions of the Popular Mobilisation Forces.

The visit occurs amid tense regional conditions and deteriorating relations between Iran and Arab neighbouring countries.

Upon arriving at Baghdad International Airport, Ghalibaf went directly to the site where Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, a former commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, was assassinated. Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike in 2020 that targeted him immediately after he arrived in Baghdad from Damascus, accompanied by Popular Mobilisation Forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

"The resistance in Iraq has become an essential element of global power," the Iranian parliament speaker had said.

Ghalibaf's comments angered supporters of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and his campaign to monopolise weapons under the state.

At the same time, Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, spokesman for Kataib Hezbollah, issued a harsh address to al-Zaidi following the arrest of Abbas al-Yacoubi, the intelligence official of Harakat al-Nujaba, describing the Iraqi PM as a "young man" and that "our patience is running out".

Describing the 100 days of al-Zaidi's government as "empty genius from the young Ali al-Zeidi", al-Assaf also said the Iraqi PM must "understand the governing equations and listen to the advice of the elderly politicians."

"However, we have not seen any development in his understanding of the complex circumstances facing Iraq and the region. Rather, he has made matters worse by insisting on listening to the advice of US envoy Thomas Barrack," he added.

Ali Fadlallah, a political affairs researcher close to the Iraqi factions, said, "There are those who want to drag the state and the factions into a battle. Otherwise, what does it mean to arrest and terrorise the families of fighters through attacks and unjustified arrests in a crazy manner that no Iraqi with dignity and the right to live safely in his country can accept?"

"Anyone who says they know the types of weapons possessed by the factions is speaking without understanding because the factions deal with this issue with a high degree of secrecy," he told The New Arab. "As for the sources of the weapons, most are Iraqi or arrived in Iraq through many channels. The factions that handed over their weapons have not abandoned the idea of resistance, but the situation in Iraq requires pragmatic thinking rather than relying on force and hardline positions."

"The factions that handed over their weapons have cleared themselves before the Iraqi state of any attacks that might target Americans or facilities accused of dealing with the Israeli enemy in Iraqi areas," Fadlallah added. "But the factions that refuse to hand over their weapons believe that Iraq is still effectively occupied, as foreign forces continue to have a malign role on Iraqi soil. Moreover, Iraqi decision-making is still influenced by US directives, and this is unacceptable."

Meanwhile, Iraqi security affairs researcher Sarmad al-Bayati said, "The Iraqi government appears firmly serious, without retreat, about resolving the issue of the factions. The measures it is taking are moving in an escalatory direction to establish security and stability and enforce the law through containment, pursuit and arrests.

"Therefore, the factions feel this danger and appear agitated in their latest statements, even though the Coordination Framework, the ruling Shia alliance, wants the process of bringing weapons under state control to continue through understanding and calm," he added.

He ruled out that "the situation is currently considered under control and that the possibility of confrontation between the two sides is currently unlikely, but the situation is generally unsettling."

Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here.