By Timour Azhari

LONDON (Reuters) – Iraq is trying to convince the country’s powerful armed factions that fight U.S. forces and fire rockets and drones into Israel to lay down their weapons or join official security forces, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said.

The push comes against a backdrop of seismic shifts in the Middle East that have seen Iran’s armed allies in Gaza and Lebanon badly damaged and the Syrian government overthrown by rebels.

The incoming US Trump administration has vowed to put more pressure on Tehran, which has long supported several political parties and an array of armed factions in Iraq.

Some officials in Baghdad worry the status quo could change next time, but Hussein downplayed it in an interview with Reuters during an official visit to London.

“We don’t think Iraq will be next,” Hussein said.

The government is negotiating to curb the groups while continuing to walk a tightrope between its relations with Washington and Tehran, he said.

“Two or three years ago it was impossible to discuss this topic in our society,” he said.

But now, having armed groups operating outside the state is unacceptable.

“Many political leaders, many political parties are starting to raise a discussion, and I hope we can convince the leaders of these groups to lay down their weapons, and then become part of the armed forces of under the government’s responsibility,” Hussein said.

Iraq’s balance has been tested by attacks by Iranian-backed Iraqi armed groups on Israel and on US troops in the country they say have sided with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war.

A promised ceasefire in Gaza has the government breathing a sigh of relief, although uncertainty prevails over what the country will do after Donald Trump becomes US president.

During the last Trump presidency, relations became tense as he ordered the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020, which led to an Iranian ballistic missile attack on an Iraqi base housing US forces.

“We hope we can continue this good relationship with Washington,” Hussein said. “It is too early now to discuss what policy President Trump will pursue for Iraq or Iran.”

As Iraq tried to chart a diplomatic third way, Hussein said Baghdad was ready to help diffuse tensions between Washington and Tehran if asked and noted past mediation between Saudi Arabia and Iran. which paves the way for their normalization of relations in 2023.

SYRIA

The armed revolution in neighboring Syria is viewed with concern.

The Islamist rebels now in power in Damascus are among Sunni Muslim militants who entered Shia-majority Iraq from Syria after the US-led invasion in 2003, fueling years of sectarian warfare.

Islamic State crossed the same road a decade later and carried out bloody massacres before being beaten back by an international military coalition led by the US and Iraqi security forces and factions aligned with Iran. .

Iraq will only be reassured about Syria if it sees an inclusive political process, Hussein said, adding that Baghdad will provide the country with grain and oil once it ensures that it goes to all Syrians.

Baghdad is talking to the Syrian foreign minister about visiting Iraq, he said.

“We are worried about ISIS, so we are in contact with the Syrian side to talk about these things, but in the end having a stable Syria means having a representative of all the components of the political process .”

Baghdad and Washington last year agreed to end the work of the US-led coalition in September 2026 and transfer bilateral military relations, but Hussein said that developments in Syria should be monitored.

“At first, we thought about the security of Iraq and the stability of Iraq. If there is a threat to our country, of course it is a different story,” he said.

“But until this moment we have not seen a threat.”