BAGHDAD: A bill in Iraq that would further formalize the role — and perhaps, the autonomy — of a powerful coalition of pro-Iran former paramilitaries has sparked a heated debate, fanned in part by US pressure.
Few details of the bill that could decide the future of the Hashed Al-Shaabi alliance have been made public.
Formed in 2014 when Iraqis were urged to take up arms against the jihadists of the Daesh group, the Hashed is a powerful force with major military and political clout.
The bill aims at regulating and restructuring the alliance of a myriad of armed groups, which together have more than 200,000 fighters and employees.
Not mincing words, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the proposed legislation “would institutionalize Iranian influence and armed terrorist groups undermining Iraq’s sovereignty.”
An Iraqi government official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said opponents of the bill say it “seems to establish something similar to the Revolutionary Guards” in Iran — a powerful military force imbued with the Islamic republic’s ideology.
The aim, according to political scientist Renad Mansour, is to integrate the Hashed “even more into the state.”
“Some argue that this is an important first step, because it’s better to have them in this system than outside the system, where they could be spoilers,” said Mansour, a senior research fellow at Chatham House think tank.
But others, he added, “argue that this is a further way for the Hashed to consolidate its power,” giving the alliance “access to greater funds, greater intelligence, and other kind of equipment and technology.”
The debate around the bill comes at a time of heightened regional tensions and upheavals, as the Gaza war reverberates across the Middle East.
Iranian allies and proxies have been weakened in wars with Israel, which has Washington’s backing. In Lebanon, Tehran-backed group Hezbollah faces a government push to disarm it by the end of the year.
In recent years, the Iraqi armed factions have seen their clout grow, with some gaining seats in parliament and in government, even as several group leaders — including the Hashed’s top commander — have been subjected to US sanctions.
In 2022 the coalition was granted a public works enterprise, Al-Muhandis, with capital worth tens of millions of dollars.
Responding to Washington’s concerns, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has defended the proposed bill as “part of the government’s broader security reform agenda.”
The Hashed “is an official Iraqi military institution operating under the authority of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces,” Sudani said.
A 2016 law already affords the Hashed the status of a public body. But some factions face accusations of collecting government salaries for their fighters on the one hand, but acting entirely independently of the state on the other.
Some of the factions within the Hashed are aligned with Baghdad, while others pledge their allegiance first and foremost to the Tehran-led “Axis of Resistance.”
The latter have in the past launched rockets and explosive-laden drones at US troops stationed in Iraq as part of an anti-jihadist coalition.
Mansour said the Hashed was unlikely to morph into something that resembles Iran’s Guards.
It “isn’t a coherent institution,” he said.
“It has many different groups, many different factions, many different leaders, and they’re still fighting with each other.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source close to the armed factions told AFP that Shiite Muslim political parties seek a “special law” that would guarantee the Hashed remains “an independent military institution, on the same level as the interior or defense ministry.”
Sunni Muslim and Kurdish politicians oppose any such move, and even among the Shiites there is no consensus, said the government official.
Deputy parliament speaker Mohsen Al-Mandalawi said the proposed legislation “contributes to enhancing the combat capabilities” of the Hashed and to “creating new formations concerned with developing this security institution,” according to the official Iraq News Agency.
If approved, it would pave the way for the creation of a special military academy and secure the Hashed’s “financial independence,” according to a parliament report published by state media.
According to the report, the Iraqi state council noted the “bloating” of administrative structures, and opposed the creation of such an academy for the Hashed instead of using existing defense ministry facilities.
But with legislative elections coming up in November, the former paramilitaries may seek to seize on the chance to gain institutional recognition.
The Hashed “needs something to reinvigorate its base,” said Mansour.
“The more the Hashed is institutionalized, the more access it has to Iraq’s wealthy state coffers,” he added.
“This could become another mechanism for patronage.”
Iraq divided over future of pro-Iran armed alliance
https://arab.news/8f426
Iraq divided over future of pro-Iran armed alliance
- A bill in Iraq that would further formalize the role — and perhaps, the autonomy — of a powerful coalition of pro-Iran former paramilitaries has sparked a heated debate, fanned in part by US pressure
- Formed in 2014 when Iraqis were urged to take up arms against the jihadists of the Daesh group, the Hashed is a powerful force with major military and political clout
Kuwait airport targeted as Iran presses on with attacks on Gulf states
KUWAIT CITY/DUBAI: Gulf nations on Sunday reported new missile and drone attacks, while Iran vowed to press on with strikes against neighboring countries as the war entered its second week.
Kuwait’s defense forces were “responding to a wave of hostile drones” that penetrated the country’s airspace, accoring to the Defense Ministry.
“The fuel tanks of Kuwait International Airport were attacked by drones in a direct targeting of vital infrastructure,” the Kuwaiti News Agency (KUNA) reported, quoting a statement by the Public Authority for Civil Aviation.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense was also reporting a wave of drone attacks, saying 21 unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted and destroyed in the last four hours.
Major General Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said in separate posts on X that 13 drones were intercepted and destroyed east of the national capital, Riyadh city, while eight drones were shot down just after entering Saudi air space.
Qatar’s defense ministry said on Sunday that the country was targeted a day earlier by 10 ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles fired from Iran, but most of them were intercepted and caused no casualties.
Before midnight on Saturday, loud explosions were heard in Dubai, the Qatari capital Doha and Bahrain’s Manama, with attacks reported in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, where the national oil company announced a “precautionary” cut to production.
The attacks came despite Iran’s president earlier apologizing to Gulf countries for earlier strikes. He had said they would no longer be targeted unless strikes were launched from their territory first.
Hours later, Iran said it would continue conducting strikes on sites in Gulf countries which were “at the disposal of the enemy.”
UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a rare televised address that the Emirates were in “a period of war” and “will emerge stronger” from it.
Dubai authorities said Saturday evening one person had been killed by debris from an “aerial interception,” adding they were a Pakistani national.
Dubai airport closed, reopens
Earlier in the day, Dubai closed its main airport — the world’s busiest for international traffic — after authorities said an unidentified object was intercepted nearby.
The government said there had been “a minor incident resulting from the fall of debris after an interception,” without directly mentioning the airport. It said there were no injuries.
The Flightradar24 tracking website earlier showed planes circling above the airport in an apparent holding pattern.
In a statement since deleted from X, Emirates, the largest airline in the Middle East, had announced it was suspending all flights to and from Dubai until further notice, but later said it had resumed operations.
The UAE, a US ally and home to American military installations, has been the most heavily targeted nation in the Gulf during the war.
Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Defense said that of the 16 ballistic missiles fired at the country on Saturday, all but one had been intercepted, with that missile falling into the sea.
Of the 121 drones detected, 119 were brought down, while two fell within Emirati territory.
The barrage brings the number of ballistic missiles detected by the UAE since the start of the war last Saturday to 221, the defense ministry said, with the number of drones surpassing 1,300.
Flights from Dubai’s main airport had partially resumed on Monday despite daily drone attacks targeting sites in the UAE.
Last Saturday, four employees were injured and an airport terminal damaged as the war broke out following US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iranian attacks have also hit Abu Dhabi airport, the upmarket Palm Jumeirah development and the Burj Al Arab luxury hotel over the past week, while drone debris caused a fire at the US consulate in Dubai on Tuesday.
Relentless air threats
Elsewhere in the Gulf on Saturday, Qatar’s defense ministry said its military had intercepted two missile attacks targeting the country.
Kuwait said Saturday night it had intercepted seven drones since dawn, with the attacks resulting “only in material damage from falling debris.”
And Bahrain said it has intercepted and 92 missiles and 151 drones since the start of the “brutal Iranian aggression.”
AFP journalists heard an explosion Saturday night in Manama, Bahrain’s capital, as authorities said one person was injured after rocket shrapnel fell in a public street.
In Saudi Arabia, the defense ministry said it had destroyed three ballistic missiles heading toward Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts American troops, as well as 17 drones over the Shaybah oil field in the southeast.
Kuwait also reported intercepting a drone, while the country’s national oil company announced a “precautionary” cut to its production of crude due to Iranian attacks and threats to the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for Gulf hydrocarbons.
Further north, Jordan accused Iran of directly targeting sites in the kingdom, saying Tehran had fired 119 missiles and drones in the past week.
“These missiles and drones were targeting vital installations inside Jordan and were not passing through our territories,” said military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mustafa Hayari.
(With AFP)
