Will Iraq integrate the Popular Mobilization Forces into the state?

On July 27, 2 brigades from the mostly Shia Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) stormed the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, clashing with police.

While the incidental could beryllium seen arsenic a powerfulness conflict for position, it besides indicates a definite grade of daring connected the portion of the brigades, which ended up sidesplitting a constabulary officer.

The brigades were called successful by Ayad Kadhim Ali aft helium was dismissed arsenic the caput of the ministry’s bureau successful Baghdad’s Karkh district, according to Mehmet Alaca, an adept connected Iraq’s Shia militias. Ali is affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah, arsenic are the brigades that attacked the ministry, analysts told Al Jazeera.

The incidental is seen arsenic a litmus trial of whether the Iraqi authorities tin clasp PMF factions accountable for breaking the law.

Iraq’s authorities argues that passing a caller authorities – which would afloat integrate the PMF into the authorities – would assistance them bash so. Proponents of the measure reason it would incentivise the PMF to enactment wrong the confines of the law, but detractors fearfulness it would springiness ineligible screen to militias, which are already excessively strong.

The PMF

The PMF, besides known arsenic al-Hashd al-Shaabi, is an umbrella organisation of mostly Shia equipped groups, immoderate of whom person adjacent ties to neighbouring Iran. A fewer of these groups archetypal emerged during the Iraqi absorption to US occupation.

Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, for instance, divided from Jaish al-Mahdi, formerly the ascendant limb of the Shia rebellion, successful 2007. The radical received Iranian enactment to go a large powerbroker successful Iraq and aboriginal intervened successful Syria’s civilian warfare to enactment then-President Bashar al-Assad arsenic helium tried to crush a fashionable rebellion.

Kataib Imam Ali is another, albeit smaller, radical successful the PMF that reportedly received grooming from the Lebanese radical Hezbollah successful Iran and besides dispatched fighters to Syria during the tallness of its war.

Like Kataib Imam Ali, astir PMF factions were formed aft Iraqi Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa successful 2014, urging each able-bodied men to articulation the authorities to support Iraq from ISIL (ISIS).

At the time, ISIL controlled ample swaths of territory crossed Syria and Iraq, equivalent to the size of England. ISIL adjacent captured the Iraqi metropolis of Mosul and declared a “caliphate” from there.

By 2016, Iraq’s parliament had passed a instrumentality that recognised the PMF arsenic a constituent of the state’s nationalist security.

But the instrumentality lacks clarity astir bid and power and budgetary oversight, and it has failed to forestall immoderate groups from taking unilateral enactment to onslaught United States assets and soldiers stationed successful the country.

The Iraqi authorities reportedly does not person close rank lists for the PMF. Shown is simply a subject parade marking the PMF’s eighth anniversary, successful Diyala, Iraq, connected July 23, 2022 [Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via Reuters]

In 2024, for instance, the PMF was awarded a fund of $3.4bn, which exceeded the full fund of Lebanon.

While the fig is tiny comparative to the $21.1bn allocated to Iraq’s Ministry of Defence that aforesaid year, it is simply a sizeable magnitude that the authorities allocated to a assemblage that it did not adjacent person an close rank database for.

Each registered PMF faction submits a database of names to beryllium paid, and these lists are past reviewed by the Ministry of Finance. However, PMF leaders often intervene to propulsion payments done unchallenged, according to a 2021 study by the Chatham House deliberation tank.

Estimates suggested determination are 238,000 PMF fighters.

Receiving a stock of the authorities fund has helped the PMF successful its quest to marque itself arsenic a morganatic entity successful Iraq.

“From the beginning, the PMF was adamant that it was portion of the authorities and not a militia,” said Renad Mansour, an adept connected Iraq with Chatham House.

Over the past 10 years, PMF factions person created governmental wings, tally successful parliamentary elections and gained entree to lucrative authorities wealth aft securing important administrative positions successful cardinal ministries.

Yet arsenic they accrued power, immoderate utilized their arms against the authorities to safeguard their patronage networks and power implicit cardinal ministries.

In 2021, PMF groups linked to Iran launched a drone astatine the location of then-Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, reportedly an effort to upend the authorities aft losing galore parliamentary seats and frankincense entree to authorities wealth successful the caller elections, said Alaca, the adept connected Iraqi Shia militias.

The caller law

The Iraqi authorities drafted the caller instrumentality successful March. It would springiness each PMF factions official, unchangeable employment and bring them nether the power of Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani arsenic commander-in-chief

Proponents of the draught instrumentality chiefly see a bloc of 5 Shia parties known arsenic the Coordination Framework.

“The statement pushed by those advocating for the instrumentality is that by offering an organization harmless haven for equipped factions nether a reformed PMF, it would incentivise those to comply with the nationalist concatenation of bid – thereby diminishing their appetite to instrumentality enactment extracurricular the state,” explained Inna Rudolf, an adept connected the PMF and a elder probe chap astatine the Centre for Statecraft & National Security astatine King’s College London.

Most importantly to the PMF, the instrumentality offers it much-needed ineligible screen astatine a clip erstwhile the US and Israel are threatening to people groups they see Iranian proxies.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani would power the PMF arsenic commander-in-chief nether the caller law. Shown present successful Baghdad connected July 28, 2025 [Hadi Mizban/AP Photo]

It would assistance PMF members afloat entree to intelligence, which immoderate reason is simply a risky proposition due to the fact that the quality could beryllium passed to Iran.

Analysts person said, however, that galore PMF factions would beryllium much acrophobic astir their powerfulness basal and assets than astir pursuing Iranian interests.

During the 12-day Israel-Iran warfare successful June, PMF groups did not onslaught US assets oregon personnel, apt retired of fearfulness of giving Israel a pretext to onslaught their bid operation and resources arsenic Israel did against Hezbollah, according to a study by the Royal United Services Institute.

“I would accidental that the stronger and much embedded PMF groups are the ones who person been practising restraint and telling the smaller [pro-Iran] factions not to get progressive successful the determination struggle [between Iran and Israel],” Mansour said.

The follow-up connected the Ministry of Agriculture incidental volition trial the willingness of PMF commanders to cooperate with the authorities to clasp their ain members accountable, arsenic good arsenic the state’s seriousness successful holding PMF members accountable, according to Rudolf.

She said al-Sudani has shown “strong will” by referring each those progressive successful the raid to the judiciary and calling for the enactment of a reappraisal committee to analyse “negligence successful enactment and power duties” wrong the PMF.

“Sudani’s medication wants to show powerfulness implicit the PMF and [to prove] that everyone affiliated with it not lone has the aforesaid privileges arsenic members of the information forces but has to abide by the aforesaid codification of conduct,” Rudolf told Al Jazeera.

Pressures against the caller law

Not everybody successful Iraq supports the PMF’s integration, said Zeidon al-Kinani, an adept connected Iraq and adjunct teacher astatine Georgetown University successful Qatar.

He said galore PMF factions harmed and adjacent killed hundreds of young protesters who were demonstrating against what they considered a corrupt governmental elite successful 2019.

As a result, civilian nine is wary of seeing each PMF factions fixed the aforesaid privileges arsenic Iraq’s service and constabulary and would similar the authorities sorb lone those that bash not person adjacent ties with Iran, al-Kinani said.

US officials are besides pressuring Iraq not to walk the instrumentality with Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly telling al-Sudani the instrumentality would “institutionalise Iranian power and equipped violent groups undermining Iraq’s sovereignty”.

Former and existent Iraqi officials argued that the authorities cannot disband the PMF and immoderate effort to bash truthful could trigger sectarian violence.

Al-Kinani warned that the US could trigger a struggle by making unreasonable demands without supporting Iraq to transportation them out.

“When it comes to Iraq, the US makes drastic demands [without] supporting the Iraqi authorities oregon civilian nine to guarantee their extortion from immoderate repercussions,” helium told Al Jazeera.