ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), an Iran-backed Iraqi militia, on Tuesday stressed the importance of restricting weapons to the state, and reiterated its rejection of “foreign interference” in the country’s internal affairs.

“We renew our clear and declared position since 2017 of limiting weapons to the Iraqi state, based on the constitution, the directives of the wise religious authority, and a purely Iraqi will without foreign interference,” AAH, which is part of the state-integrated Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), said in a statement marking the 105th anniversary of the Iraqi Army’s founding.

The Iraqi government has recently ramped up calls on non-state actors to disarm, amid mounting pressure from Washington to curb Iranian influence in the country.

AAH, a US-designated group, emphasized the need for preserving the country’s “full national sovereignty” and rejecting “any form of illegal foreign military presence on Iraqi land or in its airspace,” to ensure the independence of the Iraqi military, including in its decision-making processes.

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.

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.”

Several Iran-backed militias, including AAH, have rebuffed the disarmament calls, saying they maintain the right to “resistance” as long as there are foreign forces present in the country.

In a New Year message, US Special Envoy to Iraq Mark Savaya said that 2026 will mark the end of militias in Iraq, asserting that the US and the Iraqi government will join efforts toward that objective.

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 Iraqi society at around 15 million medium and light weapons, with armed groups and tribes possessing the bulk of them.

In late December, Iraq’s interior ministry announced a new phased plan to remove unlicensed weapons on a city-by-city basis in 2026, coming after a growing, though controversial, national dialogue on the topic.