Hakim discusses weapons handover with American chargé d’affaires

BAGHDAD — Hikma Movement leader Ammar al-Hakim discussed efforts to place weapons under state control and broader political developments during a meeting Thursday with Joshua Harris, the chargé d’affaires at the US Embassy in Iraq.

According to a statement from Hakim’s office, the two sides reviewed Baghdad-Washington relations and discussed political developments in Iraq and the wider region. Hakim stressed that Iraq had moved beyond political deadlock and successfully formed a government in accordance with constitutional requirements, and praised “the steps taken in the path of restricting weapons to the hands of the state,” describing them as “a constitutional and legal reality stipulated by the constitution and the Popular Mobilization Forces law, and demanded by the supreme religious authority on several occasions.”

Hakim renewed “the call to stop the wars taking place in the region” and emphasized “the need to reach fundamental and just solutions that restore stability, prevent escalation and preserve the interests of all parties.” The two sides also discussed Iraq’s economic challenges, which Hakim said require diversifying sources of income, moving beyond reliance on a rentier-state model and expanding oil export routes.

The meeting came as ceremonies began in Samarra to transfer responsibility for Saraya al-Salam positions to the Samarra Operations Command, the first publicly announced implementation step in the weapons integration process. Saraya al-Salam, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Imam Ali Battalions have all taken steps to separate from political structures and place weapons under state authority.

Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada have rejected disarmament. On Thursday, Kataib Hezbollah security official Abu Mujahid al-Assaf said the group’s weapons would remain in place as long as there was “occupation of the land, violation of the airspace and confiscation of political decision-making.”