DUBAI, UAE - The Iraqi Resistance Coordination said Sunday that any dialogue about its weapons, even with the Iraqi government, should only take place after the country achieves full sovereignty and removes all forms of foreign presence and its threats.

The statement, issued on the anniversary of the assassination of Iranian top commander Qasem Soleimani and former deputy chief of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, was signed by constituent factions Kataib Sayyid al‑Shuhada, Kataib Karbala, Harakat Ansar Allah al‑Awfiya, Harakat al‑Nujaba, Asaib Ahl al‑Haq, and Kataib Hezbollah.

The umbrella group rejected any external discussion of what it called the “weapon of resistance,” describing it as a “sacred guarantee to defend Iraqi territory and religious sites.”

The statement described Soleimani and Muhandis’ deaths as a “criminal American treachery,” and vowed to remain “steadfast on the path of the free.”

Addressing Iraq’s next government, the factions laid out a list of priorities it said should be fulfilled in honor of the dead. It called for clearer and more serious delivery of public services, efforts to promote development, and a firm campaign to fight and end corruption.

The group also urged lawmakers to prioritize legislation it said would protect the “dignity” of Iraqis, singling out the approval of a service and retirement law for the PMF to safeguard the rights of fighters it described as defenders of the land.

In addition, the statement demanded an end to “all forms and titles” of foreign “occupation” of Iraqi territory and airspace, and called for blocking any foreign influence, whether political, security-related, or economic.

Faiq Zidan, President of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, announced in mid-December that the leaders of some armed factions had adhered to his advice on cooperation, “to enforce the rule of law, confine weapons to the state, and transition to political action now that the national need for military action has ceased.”

The development came amid intensified calls by Washington on Iraq to curb Iranian influence, pushing Baghdad to dissolve all armed factions, including the state-integrated PMF.