Shafaq News- Manama
The United States has received “positive signals” fromIraq over efforts to place weapons under state authority, Secretary of StateMarco Rubio said on Thursday, indicating that the issue will top the agendaduring Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi's upcoming visit to Washington.
Speaking at a press conference in Bahrain's capital,Manama, during a Gulf tour, Rubio disclosed that Washington has maintaineddirect contacts with Al-Zaidi's government and believes it is making progressdespite the challenges involved. He pointed to Iran's support for armedfactions in Iraq, as well as Palestine's Hamas, Yemen's Houthis, and Lebanon'sHezbollah, as evidence of Tehran's continued regional interference throughproxy groups.
: How the US pushed Iraq's armed factions toward disarmament
Ongoing negotiations with Tehran, he added, also aimto curb the activities of those groups, while declining to discuss Washington'scontingency plans if diplomacy fails.
The Iraqi government has already begun implementingits weapons-control initiative, starting with the transfer of facilities andweapons belonging to Saraya Al-Salam, the armed wing of Muqtada Al-Sadr’sPatriotic Shiite Movement (PSM/Sadrist).
: Is Iraq closer to restricting weapons to the state?
Baghdad has set the end of September as the deadlinefor integrating or disarming armed factions. While Asaib Ahl Al-Haq and KataibImam Ali have endorsed the process, Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat Al-Nujaba, thelargest Iran-aligned groups in Iraq, have rejected the timetable, conditioningany disarmament on the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the country, alsoscheduled for September under an agreement between the US-led Coalition and theIraqi government.
Al-Zaidi's visit to Washington, scheduled for mid-Julyat the invitation of US President Donald Trump, is expected to focus on thefuture of US forces in Iraq, a new framework for bilateral securitycooperation, and expanding economic ties, sources familiar with the preparationspreviously told Shafaq News.
: A guide to Ali Al-Zaidi's ministerial program