US designates Iran-backed Iraq militias as terrorist organizations

The U.S. on Wednesday once again took aim at Iran and targeted its Axis of Resistance by designating four Iraq-based militias as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

According to the State Department, the groups identified were Harakat al-Nujaba, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya and Kata’ib al-Imam Ali – all four of which were previously designated by the Department of Treasury as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) in 2023. 

“Iran-aligned militia groups have conducted attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and bases hosting U.S. and Coalition forces, typically using front names or proxy groups to obfuscate their involvement,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in the statement.

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According to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), the four groups are all backed by Iran and form the core of an umbrella organization known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), which gained prominence following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The IRI is believed to be responsible for hundreds of attacks in Iraq, Syria and Jordan, and was behind the killing of three U.S. service members during a drone attack in January 2024 in Jordan. 

U.S. and Israeli national flags burn, as members of Harakat al Nujaba, gather next to fire during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Baghdad, Iraq, Oct. 8, 2023.  (Reuters/Ahmed Saad)

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“The Trump administration broke the taboo during term one when it proved it could name, shame, and punish Iran-backed militias in Iraq without the country devolving into civil war,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iranian expert and senior director of the FDD’s Iran program, told Fox News Digital. “Now in term two the administration is upping the ante continuing a campaign of designations against the agents of influence and terror of Iran in Iraq.”

The four terrorist groups also operate within the Popular Mobilization Forces, which is a coalition force of largely Shia groups that was formed to counter ISIS by the Iraqi government, but which is also strongly influenced by Iran. 

Members of the Popular Mobilization units, paramilitary forces that are dominated by Iran-backed Shiite militias, hold an Islamist flag in Tikrit, Iraq, on April 5, 2015. (Mohammed Sawaf/AFP via Getty Images)

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“Tehran relies on these militias to literally have a state within a state in Iraq,” Ben Taleblu said. “Sandwiching these and other Iran-backed terror groups between Treasury Department [Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons] SDN listings and State Department [Foreign Terrorist Organizations] FTO listings, as the Trump administration previously did with their patron, the IRGC, in term one is the right approach.”