BAGHDAD, August 2 (RTSG) – Despite multiple wars continuing to rage across the Middle East in Gaza, Syria, and between Iran and Israel, Iraq’s government has been steadily and silently moving itself closer towards the US and its allies.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Iraq’s Prime Minister since 2022, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, has stated that his government is making both political and military moves to pressure and suppress many of Iraq’s PMU (Popular Mobilization Units) militias affiliated with the “Axis of Resistance”.
When Israel attacked Iran in June, Iran retaliated with drones and missiles. Many PMU militias attempted to join the Iranian retaliation and launch their own drones and missiles at Israel. However, Al-Sudani states that his government thwarted 29 such attempts by Iraqi groups.
“We know that the (Israeli) government had a policy — and still does — of expanding the war in the region. Therefore, we made sure not to give any justification to any party to target Iraq,” Al-Sudani stated in the interview.
Al-Sudani furthermore stated that his government contacted Iranian leadership, “to urge them toward calm and to make room for dialogue and a return to negotiations”. His calls mirrored statements and overtures by many European governments that urged Iran to return to negotiations, despite the Israeli/US attacks.
Al-Sudani’s statement on the militias in the interview with AP is not an isolated incident. Rather, it falls under Iraq’s new initiative towards the militias since the start of 2025. An Iraqi politician close to Al-Sudani, Izzat al-Shahbndar, told Reuters earlier in April 2025 that Sudani has also reached “advanced stages” in talks to disarm several of these PMU militias, such as Kataib Hezbollah, Asa’ib Ahl al Haqq, and others. These steps follow US pressures on Baghdad to disarm, dissolve, or incorporate these militias under the army’s command and control, as well as the changing regional situation as a result of the fall of the Assad government.
In recent relationship-building moves, Iraq has also reached out to Syria‘s new US-backed government. On the sidelines in Qatar, Al-Sudani personally invited Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa (also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani) to Baghdad as part of the 2025 Arab League summit. This sparked outrage and widespread anger in Iraq, as al-Sharaa was a member of Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which committed many sectarian massacres and terror attacks against civilians during the insurgency phase of the Iraq War. Several Iraqi politicians, such as Qais al-Khazali, also referenced a disputed arrest warrant for al-Sharaa. Resultingly, al-Sharaa sent his foreign minister, Asaad al-Shibani, to represent Syria at the Arab League summit in Baghdad.
Al-Sudani has also been making new moves with the United States for the past year, through 2024 and 2025. As previously mentioned, Iraq and the US have been cooperating to disarm “Axis of Resistance” militias in Iraq. Iraq has also been renegotiating security arrangements with the US and its regional partners both prior to and in the wake of Syria’s collapse. The U.S. and Iraq agreed in September 2024 to phase out the U.S.-led coalition (CJTF-OIF) by September 2025, transitioning to bilateral security partnerships with individual states. Talks focus on counterterrorism, ISIS containment, and militia disarmament, with the U.S. providing $430 million in aid (2023) for Iraqi forces, aligning with GCC regional interests.
The IMF reports that the US is also increasingly pushing financial and economic reforms inside Iraq, helping “modernize” Iraq’s banking system, as well as having Iraqi banks comply with US sanctions on Iran or Iranian entities bypassing sanctions. The US is also looking to have American energy megacorporations (GE and Vernova) invest in Iraq’s energy sector. This would bolster US control over Iraq while further weaning Iraq away from its neighbor, Iran.
According to the IMF, Iraq meets up to 25-40% of its electricity needs (higher in the summer) via cross-border imports from Iran, as Iraq’s grid is unable to produce enough electricity to meet its needs. As the US sanctions waiver for Iraqi purchase of Iranian energy expired in April 2025, Iraq is currently negotiating with the US for investment as well as extending waivers through 2028. Iraq is also looking to other US-backed sources to meet its energy needs, such as Saudi Arabia and other GCC states.
Under the first Trump administration (2017-2021), Iraq did not halt purchases of Iranian energy as sanctions waivers were consistently renewed. However, Iraq did partially comply by reducing most trade with Iran by 33% or more. Furthermore, the Trade Bank of Iraq had also stated in January 2020 to AFP that Iraq will comply with US sanctions and halt all Iraqi payment transactions with Iran, including with energy purchases, if the US waivers expire and are not renewed. That particular statement came a week after Trump threatened to freeze Iraq’s bank account in New York’s Federal Reserve, in which the US oversees post-2003 Iraq’s oil revenue and hands out allowances in exchange for Iraqi compliance.
At the end of the day, despite widespread claims and headlines since 2003 of “Iran controlling Iraq,” the evidence increasingly points to the United States exerting dominant influence over Iraq’s political, military, and economic direction, with this influence only getting deeper with time.
Written by Prism
