ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Baghdad has prepared a “draft plan” to restrict weapons to the state, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein announced on Wednesday, saying that the prime minister has set June 2027 as the deadline for its implementation, despite armed groups expressing reluctance to disarm. 

“The Iraqi government has prepared a draft plan to restrict weapons to the state, which is scheduled to be presented in the coming days,” Hussein said in an Atlantic Council discussion in Washington. 

Its implementation is set to be completed by June 2027, Hussein added, saying that Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has set the deadline. 

Also on Wednesday, Zaidi addressed the nation on the occasion of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State’s (ISIS) withdrawal, calling for arms to be “in the hands of the Iraqi state.”

He called on armed groups to be “an added strength serving Iraq, under one national doctrine, one flag, one military, and one security decision.” 

“Let your experience and sacrifices serve as an added strength for Iraq,” Zaidi told the armed groups.

Earlier on Wednesday, a network of Iran-backed Iraqi militias under the banner of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) declared that they are “not bound by any timeline or agreement” with the Iraqi government or political entities to disarm, adding that they have been negotiating a mechanism regarding its arms with the Iraqi government for over 40 days in exchange for “achieving Iraq’s complete and full sovereignty.”

The leader of Iraq’s Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah similarly stressed that they had not reached an understanding with Iraqi premier regarding disarmament, while describing the existence of independent armed groups as a “positive attribute.”

The groups were initially scheduled to hand over their weapons in accordance with a September 30 deadline set by the Iraqi government; however, several militias have rejected the call to surrender their weapons.

Baghdad has since shifted toward a longer, phased process extending into 2027. In an interview with The New York Times on September 21 in Baghdad, Zaidi said an initial 90-day period would require armed factions to halt attacks, with guarantees that US strikes would not target them. That would then be followed by the gradual handover of weapons and integration of fighters into state institutions.

The groups have long used the US-led coalition’s presence in the country as a reason to maintain their weapons; however, their reluctance persists despite the global coalition officially announcing its full withdrawal from Iraqi territory on Wednesday.