ByJONATHAN SPYER

JUNE 6, 2026 10:52

The choice by two strong Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq to give up arms and place weapons under state authority has drawn praise from US and Western officials.

The groups are the strong Asaib Ahl al-Haq led by Qais al-Khazali and the Ktaeb Imam Ali headed by Shibl al-Zaidi. Asaib said it set up a panel to handle the full handover and list all its arms.

A Ktaeb Imam Ali statement said the step came from national duty to keep victory gains and build unity.

US Special Envoy Tom Barrack posted on X that he congratulates Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaidi on this key move that starts a base for fresh Iraqi self-rule based on restored sovereignty, lasting stability and national renewal.

He also praised the groups for their choice to return all weapons to the Iraqi state to help build order.

The step by these two follows a choice one week before by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to fold his Saraya al-Salam militia into state forces. Sadr unlike the others is not a direct client of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.

What is happening? Are we seeing Iran-backed militias willingly disband for national unity? Do such changes still occur?

Adjustment and consolidation of Iraq deep state

The reality is more complex. This is not Iran giving up its deep state in Iraq but rather adjusting and strengthening it.

The key figure is Faiq Zaidan chief of Iraq Supreme Judicial Council. Little known outside Iraq Zaidan a close Khazali ally is seen as the country kingmaker.

Journalist Ali Mahmoud wrote for the Middle East Forum that since 2018 no prime minister candidate has advanced without Zaidan consultation approval or intervention.

This power was clear when Barrack met Zaidan on April 19 amid US efforts to block Iran-linked Nouri al-Maliki return to the premiership.

US moves succeeded with threats to limit access to Iraqi dollar accounts. As Mahmoud noted Barrack backed Zaidan just as Iranian Quds Force chief Esmail Qaani had done and each left him facing a test. The American seeks a prime minister who shifts direction.

What followed was the naming of 40-year-old businessman Ali al-Zaidi as prime minister and then the announcements by Asaib and Ktaeb Imam Ali.

Yet a closer look at Zaidan the broker now allied with the US shows he belongs to the Iran-led power structure in Iraq not its rival.

A December 2023 study by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point named Zaidan as one node of the Iranian system in Iraq. The study covers the time after Iran-aligned factions electoral loss in 2021 when anti-Iran forces seemed able to form a government.

Yet per the CTC study the main tool in the muqawama 2022 turnaround was Iraq top judge Faiq Zaidan who in February 2022 suddenly issued rulings in the Supreme Federal Court that all harmed the tripartite bloc effort to form a government without the muqawama factions.

Zaidan work was not just symbolic. His court changed government formation rules so the tripartite bloc simple majority was no longer enough and a two-thirds majority was required. This blocked any government without pro-Iran militia input.

Zaidan kept close ties with IRGC and terror groups

The CTC study describes Zaidan career as follows: based on multi-year probes Zaidan is one of several judges groomed by the Iraqi muqawama specifically by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis since around 2004. Zaidan was placed by Muhandis at the top of the Iraqi judicial system where Muhandis called him the guardian of the Shia project. Zaidan stayed in touch with IRGC-QF officials and US-designated groups such as KH and AAH during 2021-2022 on government formation.

Muhandis was the IRGC main man in Iraq. He was killed in January 2020 with his patron Qassem Soleimani by a US strike near Baghdad airport.

From 2021 to 2022 Zaidan and allies succeeded. Rivals could not form a government opening the way for pro-Iran return with the Mohammed al-Sudani government in October 2022.

Today Zaidan has per one Iraqi political site taken the role once held by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis running politics from behind the scenes. This is the man the US now works with to limit Iranian influence in Iraq.

The point is not that Iran runs a fake show of rivalry among its allies in Iraq.

Competition among factions is real. Zaidan and Khazali network opposes Maliki and the reverse. Yet opposition to Maliki does not mean opposition to Iranian interests in Iraq. It does not. What unfolds is rivalry inside the Iranian-led camp.

The choice by Zaidan allies Khazali and Zaidi to integrate their armed units into state security forces or at least declare intent to do so shows a pro-Iran element effort to consolidate power and reduce risk from US economic steps against their system.

It does not as the US envoy X post claims imply victory for independent Iraqi sovereignty or decline of IRGC hold on Baghdad. Instead it shows the depth and complexity of the Iranian system in Iraq and the many-sided nature of Tehran project.