Iran’s Ghalibaf Calls for ‘New Order’ in Iraq as Tehran Pushes Militias To Resist Disarmament 

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf called for strengthening a “new order” in the Middle East during a visit to Iraq on Wednesday, as Baghdad faces pressure to disarm Iran-aligned factions and Tehran pushes those groups to retain their weapons. 

“Our trip to Iraq today is aimed at strengthening the new order in the region and accelerating the strengthening of cooperation between all countries in the region without foreign interference,” Ghalibaf said. 

He also defended Iraq’s Iran-aligned factions, describing them as a source of strength for the country. 

“Resistance in Iraq is … one of the elements of this country’s power. Today, resistance has gone beyond the borders of Iran and Iraq… and has become global,” he said. 

Ghalibaf was scheduled to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi later Wednesday, followed by talks with the Coordination Framework, parliament’s largest bloc, which consists of Shia parties with varying degrees of proximity to Tehran. 

During their White House meeting on July 14, President Donald Trump and al-Zaidi pledged to disarm all Iran-backed and non-state armed factions, with al-Zaidi promising to meet a self-imposed September 30 deadline following the US military pullout.  

President Trump noted that weakened Iranian regional influence allowed for this move, prompting three major militia groups to initially signal compliance with the disarmament pledge. However, several powerful factions close to Iran have refused. 

Iran has separately pressured the militias not to disarm. Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani reportedly told pro-Iranian Shiite factions during a recent Baghdad visit that surrendering their weapons was a “red line” because Iran was effectively the “owner of the weapons.”