The United States has set the disarmament of Iran-aligned armed groups as a precondition for deepening its strategic partnership with Iraq, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, hosting Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zeidi in Washington, stated that Baghdad must “assert its sovereignty and disarm the Iran-linked militias” responsible for more than 600 attacks on US personnel this spring. The demand, delivered as the US-led coalition against the Islamic State prepares to wind down its mission, ties future commercial and defence cooperation directly to the Iraqi government’s ability to consolidate a monopoly on the use of force.

Viewed from Washington, the ultimatum reflects a broader effort to reshape the US-Iraq relationship away from open-ended military engagement and towards economic leverage. President Donald Trump, who also received al-Zeidi at the White House, described Iran as a “bully of the Middle East” whose power had sharply diminished in recent months. The Pentagon expects Iraqi security forces, including Kurdish Peshmerga units, to assume the lead in counter-ISIS operations as the international mission draws down. Simultaneously, the US Navy has reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports and coastal zones, with Trump claiming that airstrikes had disabled 92 percent of Iran’s drone and 89 percent of its missile production capacity. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent separately told al-Zeidi that Washington was ready to support Iraq’s economic reform agenda and help transition the bilateral relationship from military presence to investment and business development.

Baghdad’s response has emphasised its own reform trajectory. Al-Zeidi’s office said the prime minister had underscored the government’s priority of fighting corruption and confining weapons to state hands, while pressing ahead with a comprehensive restructuring of the banking, insurance, tax and customs sectors. Iraqi officials framed these steps as part of a sovereign state-building project that would yield tangible improvements in energy, investment and stability within the next year. The Iraqi leadership has publicly aligned itself with the US demand to disarm non-state militias, though the practical challenge of enforcing such a measure against groups with deep ties to Iran’s security apparatus remains formidable.

In Tehran, the reaction has been one of outright rejection. Iranian state media reported that Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi declared a memorandum of understanding on ending hostilities with the US no longer valid, accusing Washington of violating all its commitments under the peace agreement. Iranian-linked outlets portrayed Hegseth’s statement as an ultimatum designed to sever Baghdad’s ties with the “resistance” axis. The standoff unfolds against a backdrop of heightened military friction: the US has resumed maritime interdiction operations near Iran, while the Pentagon says it expects Iraqi forces to take over the fight against ISIS by the end of September, when American troops are scheduled to withdraw. The coming weeks are likely to test whether Baghdad can navigate between Washington’s conditions and Tehran’s entrenched influence without triggering a new cycle of internal or regional escalation.