Eurasia Press & News
The US is pressuring Iraq to curb Iranian influence through financial oversight, judicial reforms, and action against militias
The United States has been quietly stepping up pressure on Baghdad for weeks in order to get it to disengage from Iran, three senior Iraqi officials have told The New Arab’s sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
The effort, they said, extends beyond the issue of pro-Iranian militias and their advanced weapons, and now includes demands for judicial reforms and tighter financial oversight to reduce Iranian influence over state institutions.
The campaign follows Washington’s move last week to designate four Iran-aligned Iraqi factions – Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, and Kataib al-Imam Ali – as terrorist organisations.
According to the US State Department, the decision was based on a national security memorandum from President Donald Trump requiring “maximum pressure on Iran to cut funding to the regime, its agents, and terrorist partners”.
This brings the number of designated factions to eight, alongside Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and two others. Several groups and individuals remain under Treasury Department sanctions, including the Babylon Movement, the Shabak Mobilisation, and Popular Mobilisation Forces chief Faleh al-Fayyad.
One Iraqi official, a foreign ministry source in Baghdad, stressed that US pressure was “not limited to the Popular Mobilisation Forces or confining factional weapons to the state, but now covers multiple sectors and institutions”.
The official, a diplomat recently returned from Europe, said Washington had also sought judicial proceedings against armed group leaders accused of crimes against humanity and human rights violations.
While no names were given, many of those sanctioned by the US include senior Shia commanders Qais al-Khazali, Abu Fadak, Shibl al-Zaidi, Abu Ala al-Walai, Hussein Moanis, and the Christian leader of the Babylon Brigades, Rayan al-Kildani.
The officials noted that the financial system had come under near-total US scrutiny. All foreign transfers from Iraq now go through intermediary banks in Jordan and the UAE, in line with US Treasury monitoring. The aim, they said, was to block Iran and its affiliates from accessing Iraqi funds.
An Iraqi MP from the ruling Shia Coordination Framework bloc confirmed that Washington was putting pressure on Baghdad to dissolve armed groups or integrate them groups into state forces, tighten financial controls, and protecting the judiciary from factional pressure.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said some measures were already underway and that the Iraqi government had recognised the need to engage with US demands to enact reforms that distance state institutions from Iranian influence.
Still, leaks suggest deep unease within the Coordination Framework, the political umbrella for Iran-backed parties and armed groups.
Iraqi media reported that a secret message was delivered by Baghdad’s delegation to the UN General Assembly in New York, seeking clarification on Washington’s commitment to a recent security agreement, including a withdrawal timetable for US troops and protection against foreign attacks.
The move reflects fears that US measures may embolden Israel to target militia-linked sites and figures inside Iraq.
Security analyst Sarmad al-Bayati told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that Iraq was facing “serious external challenges” and must strengthen its institutions, particularly security forces, to withstand regional instability.
He pointed to the Israeli strike on Doha earlier this month as proof that “Israel does not respect the sovereignty of any state in the region”, warning that Baghdad must be ready to defend its interests.
Washington has escalated financial pressure on Iraq in recent years. In February, it sanctioned five more private banks, bringing the total to 28 barred from dealing in US dollars. The US Treasury accused the banks of illicit transactions with Iranian entities, money laundering, and terror financing.
The current standoff also revives memories of January 2021, when Iraq’s judiciary issued an arrest warrant against Trump under Article 406 of the penal code, a charge carrying the death penalty, over the killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport.
The ruling, widely dismissed as political, nevertheless underscored the volatility of Iraq’s relationship with Washington.
