The US has “expressed deep concerns on terrorist-designated Iran-backed militia groups who threaten Americans and Iraqi stability. We continue to urge the Iraqi government to rein in these groups and hold them accountable for breaking Iraqi law,” Andy Halus, Public Diplomacy Counselor at the US embassy in Baghdad, told Rudaw in response to a question about reports suggesting that the US is pressuring Iraq to withhold the salaries of the pro-Iran groups within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi).
Several Iraqi pro-Iran militia groups warned last month that should the US support Israel in its then-escalating conflict with Iran or assassinate the Iranian supreme leader, American interests in the region would be targeted. While the US supported Israel, the groups did not openly carry out any attacks on American interests.
The US brokered a ceasefire between Iran and Israel after 12 days of a deadly war. Despite the truce, several drone attacks have been reported in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region in the last week. No party has claimed responsibility for the attacks which have targeted civilian and military locations.
The PMF was established in 2014 during the Islamic State group (ISIS) blitz, which saw the group seize control of large parts of Iraq’s north and west.
Created in response to a fatwa, a religious edict, by Iraq’s highest Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the PMF was initially an umbrella organization of roughly 70 predominantly Shiite armed groups, with approximately 250,000 members.
