The countdown has begun in Iraq for the date of September 30, which the government has set as a decisive point to end the arms issue outside the authority of the state, at a time when discussions are continuing with a number of armed factions amid discrepancies that have begun to appear within the “coordination framework” regarding the mechanism for implementing the step and its timing.
In the latest positions, the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Faiq Zaidan, the head of the Islamic Supreme Council, and the leader of the “coordination framework,” Hammam Hamoudi, stressed during their meeting the importance of continuing to confine weapons to the state in accordance with a realistic vision that preserves stability and establishes, according to their position, a new phase in Iraq.
However, this approach does not have a unified position within the political forces and factions, as the head of the political bureau of the Badr Organization, led by Hadi Al-Amiri, warned that the government had rushed towards resolving the issue by September 30.
Muhammad Naji Muhammad said that the Prime Minister repeated his position on restricting weapons in most of his statements, expressing his fear that the decision came under the influence of American pressure before the completion of the American military withdrawal from Iraq.
He also rejected what he described as “a tone that suggests the imposition of force,” considering that dealing in this way with the armed factions represents an unacceptable transgression.
The Iraqi government had set September 30 as the date for ending the issue of confiscating weapons in the hands of the state, coinciding with the end of the international coalition’s military mission and the completion of the departure of foreign forces, with the armed factions handing over their various types of weapons.
According to circulating data, 3 of the most prominent factions announced earlier in 2026 to hand over their weapons to the state and move to civilian work, namely the Peace Brigades led by Muqtada al-Sadr, Asaib Ahl al-Haq led by Qais Khazali, and the Imam Ali Brigades led by Shibl al-Zaidi.
On the other hand, direct negotiations are continuing with 5 other factions with the aim of reaching an understanding regarding the surrender of their weapons, which are the Al-Nujaba Movement, the Sayyid Al-Shuhada Brigades, the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, the Guardians of Blood Brigades, and the Companions of the Cave.
This puts Baghdad in a race against time, as the government is only weeks away from the specified date, while closing the file requires reaching understandings with the forces that still retain their weapons and avoiding the political dispute turning into a field confrontation.
The September 30 deadline is also linked to the issue of the foreign military presence, as the Iraqi government renewed its commitment to the agreed upon timetables for ending the military mission of the international coalition and completing the departure of its forces.
According to the government position, October 1 is supposed to mark the beginning of a new phase in which Iraq will be free of foreign military presence, with security and military responsibility completely transferred to Iraqi institutions.
The government considers that confining weapons to the state after the end of the foreign military presence represents an essential step to consolidate sovereignty and prevent the multiplicity of security and military decision-making centers, as well as providing a more stable environment for the transition towards development and economic issues.
The file of armed factions is considered one of the most complex issues in Iraq for years, due to the overlapping security, political and legal dimensions therein, in addition to the association of a number of these formations with political forces that have a significant presence within official institutions.
Some of the factions also gained military and political influence during the years of confrontation with ISIS, before the future of their weapons and role, after the decline in security threats, turned into the focus of an ongoing debate regarding the form of the state and the limits of the authority of official institutions.
As September 30 approaches, the current negotiations appear to be a test of Baghdad’s ability to address the issue with political understanding and avoid clashes, while the discrepancies within the “coordination framework” reveal that the path to ending weapons outside the country may be more complex than simply setting a deadline.
