Al-Amiri says repeat of ISIS insurgency ‘highly unlikely’ in Iraq

BAGHDAD — Hadi Al-Amiri, leader of the Badr Organization and a key figure in the Popular Mobilization Forces, says another large-scale ISIS insurgency is improbable, given the significant changes in Iraq since 2014.

“Iraq today is not the Iraq of 2014, and the scenario of ISIS events repeating is highly unlikely,” Al-Amiri said in an interview with Al-Iraqiya TV. “The conditions and factors that existed back then are no longer present today, and this is what we have ensured.”

Al-Amiri also criticized media portrayals of ISIS, saying, “the Arab media promoted the idea that ISIS operations were an Arab revolution to secure the rights and dignity of Sunnis. However, the first and biggest victims of ISIS were the Sunnis themselves.”

Excerpts from Hadi Al-Amiri’s interview with Al-Iraqiya TV:

What happened in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and the entire region is very big and has major repercussions on Iraq as well. However, Iraq today is not the Iraq of 2014, and the scenario of ISIS events repeating is highly unlikely and not possible, because the conditions and factors that existed back then are no longer present today, and this is what we have ensured.

The Arab media promoted the idea that ISIS operations were an Arab revolution to secure the rights and dignity of Sunnis. However, the first and biggest victims of ISIS were the Sunnis themselves. They suffered harm like no one else did—even the Shiites did not suffer the way the Sunnis did.

The people are not the same as they were in 2014, and our security forces are not in the same condition today. Our borders with Syria are secured from Rabia to Al-Qaim, and we are working on strengthening them further from Al-Qaim to Al-Tanf.

Before the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, we conducted a study to assess the security situation in Syria. We were surprised at how the regime had managed to survive until that moment because, practically, it had already collapsed. It was surrounded by opposition pockets near Damascus, internationally protected factions in Daraa, others in Al-Tanf, tens of thousands of Syrian opposition fighters, and another 30,000 in Idlib under the name of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham.

After the martyrdom of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, I expected the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime because he played a major role in maintaining situation in Syria. I spoke with all the Coordination Framework leaders and informed them of my concern that the regime would fall into the hands of extremists in Idlib, who were supported by Turkey after the collapse of the Syrian-Russian-Iranian alliance.

The fall of Syria was a result of Iran being preoccupied with the Gaza battle, Hezbollah with the battle in southern Lebanon, and Russia focusing on its war in Ukraine. These are existential battles for all parties involved. As a result, support for Bashar Al-Assad ended, and his regime fell.

We managed to navigate Iraq through this situation without crossing red lines. A wise person operates without reaching the edge of the abyss.

Jolani was linked to Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Al-Qaeda after breaking away from Al-Baghdadi, which means he belongs to the Bin Laden and Zarqawi school. Our experience with them was bitter, as days and months turned into bloodshed. However, if Jolani genuinely intends to change his ideology, that would be good news—but I doubt it.

The brothers in the factions are dear to me. We have discussed military operations with them, and the prime minister played an important role alongside the Coordination Framework and the State Administration Coalition. But we must imagine where we would be without the resistance. We can compare this to our resistance against Saddam’s regime—without it, his regime would not have fallen.

The brothers in the resistance see their religious duty in confronting Israel and prioritize the interests of the Palestinian people. However, they also consider Iraq’s interests, and when Iraq’s interests are threatened, they stop—and they have stopped.