Iraq Says No Fixed Deadline for Weapons Disarmament

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Iraq has set no deadline for completing the process of bringing weapons under state control, Iraqi Prime Minister’s security adviser Qasim al-Araji said Friday, rejecting reports that the committee overseeing the process had been given a fixed timeframe.

Al-Araji said the committee would continue its work according to its established program until all stages are properly completed, while warning that anyone who continues to possess weapons illegally after the process is completed will face judicial action.

The remarks come amid competing accounts over whether Washington has linked the disarmament of Iran-aligned armed factions to Iraq’s access to dollar liquidity, with a senior Iraqi financial adviser publicly denying that the United States has threatened to halt dollar shipments.

Speaking on Friday, al-Araji rejected reports that a specific period or time limit had been set for the work of the committee tasked with restricting weapons to state control.

He stressed that there is currently no specified deadline for completing its mission.

According to al-Araji, the committee will continue its efforts in line with its work plan until all stages of the process are properly implemented.

He also said the committee was formed by the Coordination Framework and operates under the direct supervision and oversight of the Iraqi prime minister.

Al-Araji said that once the committee completes its procedures and weapons are fully brought under the authority of the state, a new phase will begin.

From that point, anyone who illegally possesses weapons will be dealt with according to the law and face judicial penalties, he said.

Al-Araji’s comments come as reports about a Sept. 30 deadline for armed factions to surrender their weapons remain disputed.

Two Iraqi government sources previously told Kurdistan24 that the Trump administration had warned Baghdad that monthly dollar transfers could be suspended unless Iran-aligned armed factions surrendered their weapons by Sept. 30.

According to those sources, the warning was delivered directly to Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi during his visit to Washington. They said US officials linked the issue of armed groups targeting American and regional interests to bilateral relations and Iraq’s access to dollar liquidity.

The account was subsequently challenged by Mazhar Mohammed Saleh, a senior financial adviser to al-Zaidi, who described reports of an impending US financial measure or halt to dollar shipments as “rumors” with no factual basis.

Saleh said Washington had not formally raised such a measure with the Iraqi government and rejected claims linking dollar transfers to a Sept. 30 disarmament deadline.

He also said Baghdad-Washington relations continue to operate within the framework of the 2008 Strategic Framework Agreement.

The earlier reporting gave Sept. 30 broader significance in the dispute over weapons outside direct state control.

According to that reporting, several Iran-aligned factions, including Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Saraya Awliya al-Dam, Ashab al-Kahf and the Karbala Battalions, have resisted the weapons handover process.

Some factions have sought to portray the process as a reorganization rather than disarmament and have attached conditions including a complete withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.

The reported US position, if confirmed, would have added an economic dimension to the dispute, potentially linking the question of armed groups to Iraq’s access to dollar liquidity.

However, Saleh’s subsequent denial directly disputed the existence of such an American ultimatum.

Iraqi Parliament Finance Committee member Jamal Kochar had also previously told Kurdistan24 that the United States could potentially impose sanctions affecting Iraq’s banking sector and foreign-currency reserves if armed groups refused to disarm and continued activities viewed as destabilizing. His comments addressed what Washington could potentially do rather than confirming that such measures had been ordered.

The competing accounts leave the reported Sept. 30 deadline unconfirmed, while al-Araji’s latest remarks indicate that the Iraqi committee itself has not been assigned a fixed deadline for completing its work.

For now, Baghdad’s stated position is that the weapons-control committee will continue its work without a fixed deadline, with judicial action to follow against illegal weapons possession once the process is completed, while claims of a US financial deadline remain contested by Iraqi officials.