Tensions are flaring again in Baghdad between Iraq’s government and one of the country’s most powerful armed factions. Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, the security official for Kataib Hezbollah, launched a blistering public attack on Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, accusing him of more than a hundred days of « provocative and irresponsible » conduct.
« Our patience is running out over the provocative and irresponsible actions of the prime minister, » al-Assaf said, dismissing what he called empty boasting from the head of government. The blunt warning lands at a delicate moment, as Baghdad has spent months trying to persuade Iran-aligned armed groups to lay down their weapons or fold them under exclusive state control.
Rather than soften its stance, Kataib Hezbollah is laying down three non-negotiable conditions before any weapons talks can even begin: a full withdrawal of American troops from Iraqi soil, the departure of Turkish forces stationed in the north, and the outright dissolution of Kurdish Peshmerga units. Al-Assaf went further still, accusing the Peshmerga of maintaining « suspicious ties » with what he called the « Zionist-American enemy » — language that lays bare just how deep Iraq’s internal rifts run over sovereignty and the role of foreign powers.
Government officials, for their part, are striking a calmer tone. Sabah al-Nu’man, spokesman for the armed forces command, insisted that disarmament talks were proceeding on track, with the goal of bringing all weapons under exclusive state authority by the end of September. That timeline is an ambitious one: Prime Minister al-Zaidi himself declared on August 12 that Iraq would be free of all foreign military presence and non-state weapons by early October.
Between the militia’s fighting words and the government’s optimistic deadlines, the gap looks difficult to bridge. This latest war of words is a reminder of just how fragile Iraq’s balancing act has become, caught between American, Turkish, Iranian and Kurdish interests with only weeks left before the disarmament deadlines expire. One misstep could be enough to derail a process already undermined by mutual distrust.
