ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The US “remains deeply concerned” about pro-Iran components within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a State Department spokesperson told The New Region on Thursday, reiterating Washington's opposition to the PMF bill currently being mulled in the Iraqi parliament.

“The United States strongly opposes any legislation that is inconsistent with the goals of our bilateral security assistance and partnership and runs counter to strengthening Iraq’s existing security institutions and genuine Iraqi sovereignty,” said the spokesperson in a statement sent to The New Region.

“We remain deeply concerned about the role of Iran-aligned militia groups operating under the Popular Mobilization Forces umbrella, including US-designated terrorist groups and affiliated members,” the statement added, warning that the groups’ engagement in “unlawful, destabilizing, and violent activities” compromises Iraq’s security and regional stability.

The US has grown increasingly vocal in recent weeks regarding a bill that, if passed by the Iraqi parliament, would organize the Popular Mobilization Commission (PMC) similarly to other state security and military agencies, granting them retirement rights and pensions offered to other members of the official Iraqi security apparatus.

“The bill further institutionalizes armed groups associated with terrorist entities and leaders, including some that have attacked US interests and killed US personnel. Passing this bill would be a deeply unhelpful step,” the spokesperson noted.

In a phone call earlier in July, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio alerted Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani of Washington’s “serious” concerns with attempts to pass the controversial Service and Retirement Law for the PMF, according to a statement by the US State Department.

“Any such legislation would institutionalize Iranian influence and armed terrorist groups undermining Iraq’s sovereignty,” Rubio emphasized in the phone call, the statement said.

Rubio’s warning was preceded by an official letter from Washington that was delivered to Sudani earlier in the same week. The letter reportedly spelled out the reasons behind Washington’s concern while also giving the Iraqi prime minister a clear ultimatum to halt the bill's progression, a source told The New Region following the phone call.

The Iraqi parliament’s Security and Defense Committee on Tuesday recommended that the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) draft bill be submitted to the parliament’s presidency in the upcoming session for a vote.

The pressure from the US has incited a sense of urgency within pro-PMF players in the Iraqi political scene, who readily released statements of their own hours after the Sudani and Rubio phone call, urging the bill's passage to be expedited and slamming Washington's disapproval of the draft law.

The Sadiqoun parliamentary bloc, the political wing of Iran-aligned Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, led by Qais al-Khazali, called on the Iraqi parliament's presidency to include the bill in the parliament’s agenda for “immediate voting” in an emergency meeting.

Hussain Mouanes, head of the Al-Huqooq parliamentary bloc that is backed by the PMF's Kataib Hezbollah, said that the US recommendations only apply to “Iraq’s illegitimate children. As for its free people, they have their say in the face of this diplomatic ugliness, and the appropriate response to this transgression is to proceed with the approval of the Popular Mobilization Commission Law."

In March, US President Donald Trump addressed a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pressing Tehran for talks over the nuclear issue. The letter reportedly also included a direct request to dissolve armed groups in Iraq, specifically the PMF.

Groups affiliated with the PMF have time and again been accused of targeting US interests inside Iraq, especially after the US assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Qasem Soleimani in January 2020 in Baghdad.