By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
Iran-backed terror militias in Iraq are proactively disarming following US President Donald Trump’s threats against other terror proxies, such as the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah, according to a senior official in Baghdad.
Senior commanders and Iraqi government officials are urging the groups to demilitarize to avoid direct conflict with the US.
“Trump is ready to take the war with us to worse levels; we know that, and we want to avoid such a bad scenario,” a commander of Kataeb Hezbollah, the leading Shiite militia in Iraq, told Reuters.
Along with Kataeb Hezbollah, heads of the al-Nujaba, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada and Ansar Allah al-Awfiya groups have met to discuss demilitarization efforts.
Izzat al-Shahbandar, a senior Shiite Muslim politician, confirmed that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has met with the terror organizations and thattalks of disarming are “very advanced.” “The factions are not acting stubbornly or insisting on continuing in their current form,” he said, adding that the groups are “fully aware” they could be targets of the US military.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) acknowledges the terror groups’ intention to demilitarize as a step to avoid provoking the US.
Sudani is ordering 50,000 terrorist members of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq to disarm and give over their arsenals, including long-range missiles and anti-aircraft weapons.
The US State Department applauded the development and urged Baghdad to keep Iran’s influence out of their country. These terror groups “must respond to Iraq’s commander-in-chief and not to Iran,” it said in a statement.
In late March, Trump said the US would continue its campaign against the Houthis and lauded the operation’s successes.
“The Houthis are looking to do something. They want to know, ‘How do we stop? How do we stop? How can we have peace?’ The Houthis want peace because they’re getting the hell knocked out of them,” Trump said.
“It’s been very, very strong. The Houthis are dying for peace. They don’t want this,” Trump continued.
