This handout picture released by the Iraqi Prime Minister's office shows Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi (C) attending a ceremony marking "Sovereignty Day", the end of presence of the forces of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq, in Baghdad on Sept. 30, 2026. (Credit: Iraq's Prime Minister Media Office / AFP)
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Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced Thursday that the new deadline for the disarmament of pro-Iranian factions operating in Iraq would be June 30, 2027, following the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops from the country.
"October 1 should mark the starting point for tackling the issue of weapons outside state control ... according to a clear road map and a deadline of June 30, 2027, at the latest," al-Zaidi said in a statement. The government had initially set the deadline as Sept. 30, 2026.
At the same time, Ahmad al-Hamidawi, leader of Kataeb Hezbollah, one of Iraq’s main pro-Iranian armed groups, called on his fighters Thursday to end their military activities "except for targeting hostile aircraft violating the country’s airspace," the Associated Press reported, as celebrations were held to mark the departure of the last remaining U.S. troops from Iraq.
Why it matters
The new ultimatum from Baghdad to pro-Iranian factions comes as the previous deadline set by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi expired, amid intense U.S. pressure on the government to establish a state monopoly on weapons. The date also coincides with the official withdrawal of the last U.S. troops from Erbil air base, a stronghold of the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.
U.S. troops stationed in Iraq had repeatedly come under attack by Iranian-backed groups in Iraq and Iran’s allies since the start of the regional war triggered by the Israeli-American strike on Iran on Feb. 28.
Their mission officially ended Wednesday, and the Iraqi government says the withdrawal deprives pro-Iranian factions of the pretext they used to maintain their arsenals. Other Iraqi officials, convinced that Iran will not accept their disarmament, fear, however, that these groups could emerge stronger and plunge the country deeper into the broader Middle East conflict.
What to watch
The United Arab Emirates announced Thursday that it had opened an investigation to determine whether the alleged attack the previous day aboard a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv was “terrorist” in nature, as claimed by Israel. According to passengers and Israeli authorities, the co-pilot stabbed the captain in an attempt to crash the plane, which was carrying 174 people. The incident caused the aircraft to lose altitude suddenly before passengers rushed into the cockpit to subdue the assailant, followed by an emergency landing in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh, which does not have official diplomatic relations with Israel, reportedly rejected several Israeli requests to send planes to repatriate Israeli passengers, a Saudi source close to the matter told AFP on Thursday. “They asked to send military aircraft, two or three, directly to Tabuk airport,” the source told AFP. “That was refused ... They then asked to send a commercial aircraft. That was also refused,” the source said, adding that communications took place through the United Arab Emirates rather than directly with Israel.
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- The Israeli army continued its daily strikes and demolitions in southern Lebanon Thursday morning, following a night marked by several airstrikes and large-scale demolitions. One of the hardest-hit towns was again Mansouri, south of Sour, where the Israeli army has been conducting extensive demolitions for more than a month.
- At least seven people were killed Wednesday "by gunfire" on a bus in the Homs province in central Syria, the official news agency Sana reported. An explosion near a gas pipeline in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus on Wednesday evening knocked out three power stations, including one of the country's most important.
