Exclusive: US reaffirms concerns over Iran-backed PMF in Iraq
The United States has reiterated its concerns over the role of Iranian-backed armed groups operating under Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), calling on the Iraqi government to take stronger action to hold them accountable for illegal activity.
A US State Department spokesperson told Shafaq News that some elements within the PMF maintain ties to designated foreign terrorist organizations and are engaged in activities that Washington views as destabilizing to Iraq's security.
'We remain concerned about Iranian-backed militia groups, which operate within the Popular Mobilization Forces, including individuals and groups affiliated with designated foreign terrorist organizations,' the spokesperson stated. 'These groups continue to engage in violent and destabilizing activities in Iraq.'
The Popular Mobilization Forces is an umbrella organization composed of dozens of paramilitary factions, some of which maintain close ties to Iran. While the PMF is formally recognized as part of Iraq's security apparatus, its autonomy and the actions of certain factions have drawn increasing scrutiny from Western governments and some Iraqi political figures.
US officials have repeatedly raised alarms about several groups within or closely associated with the PMF that are subject to American terrorism designations or sanctions such as Kataib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, citing their links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and their involvement in attacks against US forces in Iraq.
Others, including Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, and Kataib Imam Ali, have been listed as Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entities.
The US has also sanctioned senior figures associated with these groups including Falih al-Fayyadh, chairman of the Popular Mobilization Committee, Abdul-Aziz al-Mohammadawi (known as Abu Fadak,) of Kataib Hezbollah.
'We continue to urge the Iraqi government to rein in these groups and hold them accountable for breaking Iraqi law,' the State Department official added.
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