ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani on Tuesday said that Baghdad is working to ensure that weapons stay “exclusively” in the hands of the state, amid mounting pressure on Iran-backed Iraqi factions to disarm.

In a message marking the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Iraqi Army, Sudani reaffirmed Iraq's commitment to bolstering its security apparatus.

“We will continue to consolidate the authority of the state by safeguarding security and ensuring that weapons remain exclusively in the hands of the state,” Sudani wrote on X.

“We have fulfilled the pledge we made to ourselves to restore Iraq's full sovereignty, end the mission of the international coalition, and, thanks to the stability that Iraq is enjoying, we have moved with confident steps to end the operations of the United Nations [Assistance] Mission [for Iraq] / UNAMI,” the premier added.

Illegal weapons in Iraq stand out as one of the most pressing challenges to security and stability. Unofficial data puts the number of arms within the Iraqi society at around 15 million medium and light weapons, with non-state armed groups and tribes possessing the bulk of them.

Faiq Zidan, President of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, in mid-December announced that the leaders of some armed factions have 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.”

Several pro-Iran factions however have rebuffed the calls for disarmament, on the pretense that Iraq is under “occupation” by foreign forces, referencing the presence of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS). Such groups include Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba, and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, all of which have been designated by the US as terror organizations.