Shia leaders launch urgent mediation to defuse standoff between Al Zaidi and armed factions

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Hikma Movement leader Ammar Al-Hakim and Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) head Humam Hammoudi have launched an urgent political mediation between Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi and Kata’ib Hezbollah, seeking to de-escalate tensions and avert potential armed confrontation. Backed by the broader Coordination Framework, the diplomatic intervention aims to preserve internal security following a sharp confrontation between Baghdad and the armed faction. The rift widened after Al-Zaidi directed security agencies to execute outstanding arrest warrants against faction-linked individuals and canceled three commercial contracts at Mosul International Airport—comprising Sky Plus (check-in counters), Sama Al-Matar (parking facilities), and Al-Faisal Al-Shamekh (taxi concessions)—citing affiliations with armed groups, with instructions to reassign operations to international ground-handling and management firms. Kata’ib Hezbollah escalated its rhetoric against the administration, directing accusations at the prime minister’s brother, Hassan Al-Zaidi, and condemning what it described as hostility toward resistance factions. Concurrently, the faction’s security official, Abu Mujahid Al-Assaf, criticized the government’s economic performance and accused political figures within the Coordination Framework of facilitating discounted oil sales and revenue splits amounting to 4.5 trillion dinars per month. The crisis has also complicated disarmament talks. Members of the Shia “Four-Party Committee”—including Badr Organization leader Hadi Al-Ameri—expressed frustration over Al-Zaidi conducting unilateral discussions with factions that reject disarmament (notably Kata’ib Hezbollah, Harakat Al-Nujaba, and Kata’ib Sayyid Al-Shuhada), arguing that direct talks undermine the institutional committee’s roadmap slated for completion by June 2027. The political dispute unfolds against backdrop pressures from Washington, where the U.S. State Department and the White House have reiterated backing for Al-Zaidi’s efforts to enforce the sovereign monopoly on arms and eliminate parallel military command structures.