BAGHDAD — Iranian top commander Qasem Soleimani and his right-hand man Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were the prayer-beads thread of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). When they were killed by a US drone strike Jan. 3, the thread was ripped and the PMU factions were scattered. Iran is now struggling to reorganize the military network in order to maintain its power in the first and most important station of its regional network along the Shiite crescent.

The PMU announced Feb. 20 the appointment of Abu Fadak al-Mohammadawi to Muhandis' position as the PMU's chief of staff. Mohammadawi is a former military leader in Kataib Hezbollah who left the PMU a few years ago due to disagreement with other leaders.

Muhandis had become the PMU’s chief of staff a few months before his assassination. He also served as the deputy head of the organization since its establishment in 2014; now, Abu Ali al-Basri has been named deputy head. The PMU is trying to get approval of these designations from caretaker prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who remains in office until the prime minister-designate forms his Cabinet and is approved by parliament.

Four PMU factions known to be close to top Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani have expressed their objection to Mohammadawi's appointment, calling upon all PMU factions to integrate into state forces under the command of the prime minister as commander in chief of the armed forces. They are the Al-Abbas combat division, the Ali Akbar Brigade, the Imam Ali Division and the Ansar Marhaia Brigade.