By Timour Azhari
LONDON (Reuters) – Iraq is trying to convince powerful armed factions in the country that have fought U.S. forces and fired rockets and drones at Israel to lay down their weapons or join official security forces, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said.
The push comes with a backdrop of seismic shifts in the Middle East that have seen Iran’s armed allies in Gaza and Lebanon heavily degraded and Syria’s government overthrown by rebels.
The incoming U.S. Trump administration promises to pile more pressure on Tehran, which has long backed a number of political parties and an array of armed factions in Iraq.
Some Baghdad officials are concerned the status quo there may be upended next, but Hussein played this down in an interview with Reuters during an official visit to London.
“We don’t think that Iraq is the next,” Hussein said.
The government was in talks to rein in the groups while continuing to walk the tightrope…
