Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi issued a decree July 1 ordering the factions of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) to integrate fully into the state security forces. 

According to the decree, all the military factions within the PMU must retire their political and military affiliations and come under the full control of the prime minister as the commander in chief of the armed forces. 

Former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued a similar decree in May 2018, but it has not been fully implemented, as some factions in the PMU are still affiliated with political parties and are under Iranian influence. After US-Iran tensions rose, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, a PMU organization, threatened to target US interests in Iraq as appropriate. Several US interests were targeted, most recently in southern Iraq, where an Exxon Mobil site was attacked by rockets.

According to Abdul Mahdi’s decree, all PMU factions must abandon their old names and receive new names in compliance with the regulations of the Iraqi army. The decree forbids political parties and parliamentary blocs from having ties with the PMU factions. It obliges the PMU factions to choose between political and paramilitary activity and remaining within the state’s security forces. If they choose to continue engaging in politics, they are not allowed to carry weapons. Also, all the headquarters, economic offices and checkpoints manned by militias are to be shut down.