Sudani: Disarming the factions is an Iraqi decision… Zidane: There is no need for weapons to remain outside the control of the state.
Sudani: Disarming the factions is an Iraqi decision… Zidane: There is no need for weapons to remain outside the control of the state.
2026-01-04 00:19
Shafaq News – Baghdad
Outgoing Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, said on Sunday that disarming armed factions is an Iraqi decision that was unanimously voted on by the House of Representatives.
This came in a speech he delivered during the official central memorial ceremony on the sixth anniversary of the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, Deputy Chairman of the Popular Mobilization Forces Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and their companions in an air strike launched by the United States near Baghdad International Airport at the beginning of January 2020.
In his speech, Al-Sudani said, “Our efforts have resulted in ending the mission of the international coalition in Iraq and moving to a bilateral relationship,” adding, “We will take over the Ain al-Asad military base within a few days.”
He added that one of the most important points in the government program is restricting weapons to the state, which was voted on unanimously by the House of Representatives.
Al-Sudani pointed out that this decision is not, as some portray it, an attempt to weaken Iraq, but rather a sincere national act aimed at protecting Iraq and removing pretexts for those who want to attack it.
He stressed that restricting weapons to the state is an Iraqi decision and an Iraqi vision, far from any external interference or dictates, noting that implementing this vision was one of the most important articles of the government program, and is consistent with the call of the supreme religious authority.
The outgoing Prime Minister stressed that Israel tried to drag Iraq into the arena of war and target it during the events of October 7 and thereafter, in order to implement its plan, considering that a strong and healthy Iraq represents the cornerstone of the region’s stability.
Al-Sudani concluded his speech by saying: We worked with all our might, and in cooperation with the sincere national forces, to protect our country from war, and to continue developing and building it in various fields.
For his part, the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Faiq Zaidan, stated in a speech he delivered during the same occasion that the need for weapons to remain outside the framework of the Iraqi state has disappeared after the defeat of terrorism.
In his speech, Judge Zaidan stated that “after the military and security victory was achieved, the national and moral duty requires us all to move to the stage of building the state,” adding that “the state is based only on respect for the law, unity of decision, and the monopoly of weapons by it alone, as there is no longer a need for weapons outside the framework of legitimate institutions. The battle is over, and the new challenges require a different kind of weapon: law, justice, and development.”
He pointed out that “restricting weapons to the state does not mean abandoning sacrifices, but rather it is an affirmation that those who carried weapons in times of war are the first to abide by the law in times of peace.”
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.
It is worth noting that former Prime Minister and leader of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, had previously stated last month that there was a move to hand over the heavy weapons of the factions to the Iraqi state.
The head of the Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq, Faiq Zaidan, had announced at the end of 2025 that the armed factions had responded to the call to restrict weapons to the state.
In a statement, Zidan expressed his “gratitude to the leaders of the factions for responding to his advice to them regarding cooperating to enforce the rule of law, confining weapons to the hands of the state, and moving to political action after the national need for military action has disappeared.”
Afterwards, some armed factions 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 issued a statement rejecting its “disarmament” and affirming that “sovereignty, controlling the security of Iraq, and preventing foreign interference in all its forms are prerequisites for discussing the state’s monopoly on weapons. 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.
shafaq.com
