Iraqi Militia Leader: We Will Fight If Iran Faces Existential Threat, Relations With US Will Never Be Normal
US-designated militia leader calls American withdrawal a military defeat, warns Kurdish and Sunni parties Washington will abandon them, and says his faction conducted twice as many operations against US forces as Washington acknowledged
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Abu Alaa al-Walai, secretary-general of Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, the Iranian-backed Iraqi armed faction designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States in September 2025, gave a rare and wide-ranging interview in which he declared that his group will fight alongside Iran if Tehran faces a genuine existential threat, that relations with the United States will never be normal as long as Washington is regarded as the Great Satan, that the American withdrawal from Iraq was a military defeat rather than a goodwill gesture, and that his faction conducted far more than the 600 operations against American forces and bases that Washington itself acknowledged during the conflict.
"If Iran faces a genuine threat to its existence, we will certainly participate in that battle," al-Walai said.
If the threat is not existential, however, we will not participate, as we demonstrated during the recent war against Iran.
The American Withdrawal
Al-Walai rejected the framing of the September 30, 2026, US military withdrawal from Iraq as a concession or goodwill gesture toward his faction and others. "We believe the American withdrawal is intended to create a vacuum, destabilize Iraq's security, and drag us into infighting and instability," he said. "We believe that the Americans did not withdraw but were defeated in Iraq."
He pointed to operational data as evidence. "During the forty-day war they acknowledged that resistance factions had carried out 600 military operations against them and their bases. We say the number is much higher, perhaps twice as high." He also referenced Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masoud Barzani's statement that the Kurdistan Region had been subjected to more than 1,000 operations, and claimed his faction's operations extended beyond Iraq. "Our operations pursued them even beyond their bases, following them to hotels and homes after they left those bases," he said.
Relations With The US: Never Normal
On the question of whether Iranian-aligned factions could ever have a normal relationship with the United States, al-Walai was categorical. "Relations with the United States will never be normal as long as it is regarded as the Great Satan and continues policies that harm Iraq," he said. He described the US embassy in Baghdad as a source of evil that blatantly interferes in Iraqi political decision-making and exerts pressure on political forces.
Al-Walai also issued a direct warning to Kurdish and Sunni political parties in Iraq. "There is also a clear message to Kurdish and Sunni parties: America will abandon them, just as it abandoned the SDF, Afghanistan, and others," he said.
Ties To Iran
Al-Walai described his faction's relationship with Iran in terms that go beyond political alignment. "Our relationship with Iran is historical, religious, and sectarian. We see Iran as a neighbor and a friend. It provided support in every form during the war against ISIS, from logistical support, training, and weapons to the participation of Iranian personnel," he said. "This is a deeply rooted relationship based on religion and neighborly ties that cannot be severed. Our blood has mingled on the same battlefields and in the same trench."
On Disarmament
When asked whether his faction would comply with Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's repeated demands that militia weapons be handed over to the state, al-Walai stopped short of outright refusal but attached conditions. "We have complied with the decisions of the Quadripartite Committee and the provisions of the Sovereignty Document, conditional on the other party's compliance," he said, referencing the internal Iraqi agreement between the government, four armed factions, and the Coordination Framework designed to regulate faction weapons and restrict them to the state.
The Sovereignty Document and Quadripartite Committee framework represents the existing internal Iraqi mechanism for militia disarmament, distinct from the June 2027 deadline that al-Zaidi announced at the UN General Assembly in September. Al-Walai's conditional compliance with the Sovereignty Document framework suggests his faction views the existing internal process, rather than al-Zaidi's external deadline linked to Washington's dollar transfer ultimatum, as the legitimate mechanism for any weapons handover.
On The $10 Million US Reward
Al-Walai addressed the US Rewards for Justice program's $10 million bounty for information about him directly. "This has not curtailed my activities or movements. Nor has it diminished my role in bringing opposing views closer together, defusing crises at times, and preventing conflicts and disputes from escalating, particularly between the government and certain factions," he said.
Who Is Abu Alaa Al-Walai?
Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Sarraji, known as Abu Alaa al-Walai, is the secretary-general of Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, an Iraqi armed group founded in 2013 and active in Iraq and Syria. Born in Baghdad, he was arrested during the 1990s under Baath Party rule and released in 2002. After 2003 he became associated with Shia armed factions including Kata'ib Hezbollah, was arrested by American forces and held for several years before being released in 2010, and subsequently became associated with the establishment and development of Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada. The United States placed al-Walai and the group under terrorism-related designations in November 2023 and designated the group a Foreign Terrorist Organization in September 2025. The US Rewards for Justice program announced a $10 million reward for information about al-Walai in 2026.