Sudani reveals “current” efforts to hold a meeting between Washington and Tehran in Baghdad
Sudani reveals “current” efforts to hold a meeting between Washington and Tehran in Baghdad
2025-12-28
Shafaq News – Baghdad
Outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani revealed on Saturday evening that there are “current” efforts to hold negotiations between America and Iran in the capital, Baghdad.
In a televised interview with the Lebanese channel Al-Mayadeen, which was monitored by Shafaq News Agency, Al-Sudani said: “We are now undertaking an important effort to arrange a bilateral meeting between Tehran and Washington in Baghdad to resume dialogue between the two sides.”
He added: “We proposed to US envoy Tom Barrack that we leverage our relationship with Iran to resume Iranian-American negotiations.”
He stressed that “neither the American nor the Iranian side rejects resuming dialogue, but each has its own limitations.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had previously confirmed that his country would not return to negotiations as long as America presented demands that he described as “unreasonable and exaggerated”.
It is noted that Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of indirect nuclear negotiations, and while the Iranian side was preparing for the sixth round, Israel launched a surprise 12-day air war last June, in which the United States joined by bombing Iranian nuclear facilities.
In late August, the Troika launched the “snapback” process and called on the Security Council to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran, which it did.
Factional weapons
On the domestic front, regarding the issue of restricting the weapons of Iraqi armed factions, which is no less complex and dangerous than the Iranian-American tension, Al-Sudani stressed that “restricting weapons is not an American demand, but rather an Iraqi decision in the government program that I presented and the House of Representatives voted on.”
Al-Sudani added: “One of my conditions was that I would not accept being the head of government and remain a spectator to the bombing of embassies and camps.”
He revealed that “Iraqi factions have two options: either to join the security institutions or to go down the political path.”
Some armed factions recently announced their agreement to the call to restrict weapons to the state, and official positions were issued by the Secretary-General of the Imam Ali Brigades, Shibl al-Zaidi, followed by a call from the Secretary-General of the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq Movement, Qais al-Khazali, as well as the Ansar Allah al-Awfiya faction, in addition to the spokesman for the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades.
However, Kataib Hezbollah refused to “disarm” and stressed that “sovereignty, controlling the security of Iraq, and preventing foreign interference in all its forms are prerequisites for talking about restricting weapons to the state. We affirm that our position is consistent with what our religious authorities have stated, whenever that is achieved.”
A leader in the “Al-Nujaba” movement, one of the armed factions in Iraq, also confirmed that the movement will continue to resist the Americans by all means.
On December 20, 2025, the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zaidan, announced that armed factions had responded to the principle of restricting weapons to the state, at a time when the United States was intensifying its pressure on Baghdad to end the role of the factions and prevent their participation in the new government, after they had obtained a large number of parliamentary seats.
It is worth noting that US President Donald Trump’s envoy to Iraq, Mark Savaya, had previously confirmed that the steps announced by Iraqi armed groups towards disarmament represent a “welcome and encouraging” development, indicating that they are a positive response to the long-standing calls and aspirations of the religious authority and its esteemed religious leaders.
For months, the United States has been putting intense pressure on the Iraqi government to end the role of armed factions, disband them, and control weapons outside the state. It has also stipulated that the factions should not participate in the new government, especially after they obtained a large number of parliamentary seats.
shafaq.com
