ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The recent US designation of four Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups as terrorist organizations will create further divisions within the country and puts Baghdad in “a real dilemma,” a political researcher told The New Region.

The US State Department on Wednesday designated Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, and Kataib al-Imam Ali as foreign terrorist organizations, accusing Iran of providing support that “enables these militias to plan, facilitate, or directly carry out attacks across Iraq.”

Political researcher Abbas al-Jabouri warned of what he described as “serious repercussions” stemming from the US designations, stressing that the decision is not just an American domestic legal measure, but will rather “open the door to a series of political and security crises in Iraq and the region.”

“The US move will place the Iraqi government in a real dilemma, caught between domestic pressures, which view the decision as an infringement on national sovereignty, and external pressures pushing Baghdad to align with competing regional and international axes,” he added.

Iraq’s proximity and close ties to Iran have rendered the country unable to strike a balance between the US and Iran in terms of international relations, with Baghdad facing mounting pressure from Washington to limit its ties to Tehran, including the disarming of Iran-backed armed groups.

Jabouri claimed that the designations “will deepen divisions within Iraq, escalate tensions between Baghdad and Washington, negatively affect security and economic cooperation, and create opportunities for regional and international actors to exploit the situation, threatening overall regional stability.”

Mukhtar al-Mousawi, an MP of Iraq’s ruling Shiite Coordination Framework, described the US move as “unilateral,” and said that it “does not constitute a binding international decision.”

“These decisions lack any UN backing or international legitimacy, especially since measures taken outside the framework of the UN Security Council remain more political than legal in nature,” Mousawi told The New Region.

He stressed that the designated factions are a legitimized part of the Iraqi security apparatus under the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and play a role in the Iraqi political landscape; therefore, “targeting them in this manner does not affect their internal legitimacy.”

“The US decision may carry dimensions related to pressuring the Iraqi government on certain issues, but it does not bind the Iraqi state nor undermine the sovereignty of the country or the standing of the targeted factions,” the lawmaker concluded.

A bipartisan bill titled “Free Iraq from Iran” was introduced to the Congress in April, aiming to curb Iranian influence in Iraq. The bill calls for dismantling all Iran-backed militias, including the PMF, threatening economic sanctions on Baghdad otherwise.

A source from the so-called “Iraqi Resistance Coordination” who spoke to The New Region on condition of anonymity revealed plans to hold a meeting in the coming days to assess the domestic and international consequences of the US decision and formulate a proper response “while avoiding any military options or escalation with Washington at this stage.”