U.S. Presses Iraq to Rein In Iran-Backed Militias After Hundreds of Attacks on American Forces
At the Pentagon, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth urged Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to assert sovereignty by disarming Iran-aligned militias that he says mounted more than 600 attacks on U.S. personnel this spring. The push lays bare Washington’s demand that Baghdad choose between competing security partners even as Iraq is asked to shoulder more of the fight against ISIS.
Washington is pressing Baghdad to confront Iran’s military footprint on Iraqi soil, using a high-profile Pentagon meeting to demand that Iraq move against Iran-aligned militias accused of launching hundreds of attacks on U.S. forces during the current Iran war.
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth hosted Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at the Pentagon on 15 July, calling on Baghdad to “assert its sovereignty” and disarm militias linked to Tehran. Hegseth said those groups were responsible for more than 600 attacks on U.S. personnel this spring, a staggering pace of rocket, drone, and improvised explosive strikes that has turned American bases and convoys in Iraq into routine targets. U.S. officials have long argued that these militias operate with varying degrees of support from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, using Iraqi territory as both launchpad and buffer in Tehran’s confrontation with Washington.
For Iraqi security forces and civilians, the numbers Hegseth cited are not abstractions. Each attack brings the risk of misfired rockets landing in residential districts, drone debris falling on farms, and retaliatory U.S. strikes that can hit near or within populated areas. Members of Iraq’s army and federal police find themselves squeezed between powerful armed factions — some integrated into state structures, others more loosely tied — and a U.S. partner that is increasingly explicit about expecting Baghdad to rein them in.
Hegseth also signaled U.S. expectations on another front: the fight against ISIS. He said Washington wants Iraqi forces, the Kurdish Peshmerga, and other security units in the Kurdistan Region to take the lead in counter-ISIS operations. That framing suggests the U.S. intends to keep stepping back from direct combat roles while relying on Iraqi partners to contain the remnants of the extremist group, even as those same partners are being asked to confront militias that in some cases have also fought ISIS on the ground.
Strategically, the message to al-Zaidi is that Iraq’s room to balance between Washington and Tehran is narrowing as the U.S.-Iran confrontation intensifies. Disarming or curbing Iran-aligned militias risks blowback from factions that hold political seats, command loyal fighters, and present themselves as defenders of Iraqi sovereignty against foreign intervention. Failing to act risks more unilateral U.S. strikes on Iraqi territory and potential conditions on military aid, training, or stabilization funds that Baghdad still needs.
The stakes are particularly acute in the Kurdistan Region, where Peshmerga units and local security forces have been central to the campaign against ISIS but also operate in a contested space with Iraqi federal units and nearby militias. A shift in U.S. expectations could redraw the map of who is responsible for holding cleared territory and securing supply lines, with implications for long-running disputes over land, oil, and authority between Erbil and Baghdad.
The memorable line in this diplomatic push is that Iraq is being asked to prove its sovereignty by challenging some of the very groups that claim to defend that sovereignty with guns. For Iraqi leaders, sovereignty is not a slogan; it is a set of choices that risk blood, political capital, and the fragile equilibrium that has kept the country from sliding back into full-scale civil war.
Signals to watch include any public commitments or legislation from Baghdad aimed at regulating or disarming militia formations; subsequent U.S. actions against Iran-linked targets on Iraqi soil; shifts in cooperation levels between U.S. forces and Iraqi units in joint bases; and how Iran and its allied factions inside Iraq respond to what they will see as an American attempt to reshape the country’s security architecture in the middle of a regional war.
Sources
- OSINT