Wed 12 August 2026:
Iraq’s Interior Ministry said Monday it has created an information database to register around 6 million weapons across the country.
In a statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency, the ministry said it also closed 71 fake offices that had claimed links to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a state-backed umbrella of Shiite armed groups.
It did not immediately provide further details on the locations of the closed offices or the mechanism used to collect data on the weapons.
On Friday, Iraqi authorities opened firearms registration and licensing offices across the country as part of a government plan to bring weapons under state control.
On June 3, military spokesman Sabah al-Numan announced the formation of a committee tasked with implementing the government’s plan to bring weapons under state control, saying it had begun its work.
Weapons outside state control remain one of Iraq’s most pressing security and political challenges. Several armed groups operate in the country, including factions affiliated with the PMF and others that function independently.
The government has sought to consolidate control over weapons and strengthen the authority of state security institutions as part of broader efforts to reinforce domestic stability and shield the country from the effects of regional tensions.
Iraq faces a severe sovereignty crisis as it tries to balance the demands of the U.S. and Gulf neighbors to rein in Iran-backed Shia militias against the domestic and political power of those same paramilitaries integrated into the state via the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
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- Financial and Economic Leverage: The U.S. controls the pipeline for Iraq’s oil revenues deposited in the Federal Reserve, using dollar shipments and financial restrictions to pressure Baghdad.
- Gulf Security Demands: Neighboring Gulf countries and Jordan have issued sharp warnings to Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government, demanding an end to cross-border drone and rocket attacks originating from Iraqi territory.
- Direct Retaliation: Continued cross-border strikes have triggered coordinated U.S. and Saudi Arabian military responses against militia infrastructure inside Iraq, turning the country into an active theater of regional conflict.
- Institutional Capture: Groups like Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba are legally part of the PMF security apparatus while simultaneously defying state orders to disarm.
- State Funding and Protection: The Iraqi government underwrites militia salaries even as it formally decries unauthorized attacks, creating a dual-power reality where armed factions operate beyond elected authority.
- Vowed Retaliation: Hardline factions reject government monopoly on arms and explicitly threaten direct retaliation against U.S. and Saudi assets if pressured.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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