Lebanon’s president is apparently in hot water in Iraq after he said he didn’t want Lebanon to have an Iraqi model for integrating Iranian-backed militias into the state. Baghdad summoned Lebanon’s ambassador on April 16 after reading comments that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun made to the New Arab publication.
The complaint in Baghdad is a bit complicated, so it’s worth trying to understand what Aoun said that so angered the Iraqis.
On April 15, the New Arab ran an interview with Aoun. In the interview, he had said he didn’t see Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces as a model for Lebanon. The PMF is a group of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. There are dozens of brigades within the PMF, which may have up to 100,000 men. The brigades include some militias that are closely linked to Iran’s IRGC, such as Kataib Hezbollah. Lebanon also has Hezbollah, and it is backed by Iran as well.
The PMF emerged after 2014 and relied on some existing Iranian-backed armed groups in Iraq. It expanded in the war on ISIS.
Between 2017 and 2019, it was integrated as an official paramilitary force in Iraq, receiving state salaries and backing from Iraq’s Interior Ministry. The Interior Ministry in Iraq has been dominated by men linked to Badr, a pro-Iranian militia within the PMF. As such, Iran was basically trying to create a kind of IRGC for Iraq. The IRGC is the ideological armed forces within Iran, which are separate from the army.
Aoun has said that the PMF model is not what Lebanon wants. Hezbollah may be weakened, but it won’t become part of the Lebanese armed forces.
“Responding to speculation about future arrangements, Aoun ruled out the possibility of replicating Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) model,” the New Arab noted.
Aoun’s response
“We will not replicate the Popular Mobilization Forces’ experience in integrating Hezbollah into the army, nor will it be allowed to form an independent unit within the military…But Hezbollah members who meet military criteria can join the armed forces, as various [militias] did at the end of the [Lebanese] civil war,” Aoun said.
Aoun said that recent changes “facilitate the possibility of dialogue with Hezbollah…direct communication between the Lebanese presidency and Hezbollah […] was evident on the ground.” In essence, Aoun wants a state monopoly on weapons in Lebanon. This means not having Hezbollah have a parallel armed state within a state. Lebanon is trying to boost its forces in southern Lebanon to around 10,000 soldiers.
Iraq was apparently angered by Aoun’s suggestion that he didn’t want Lebanon to end up like Iraq. Iraq’s foreign ministry summoned the Lebanese ambassador in Baghdad, Ali Habhab.
Iraq’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Bilateral Relations, Mohammed Bahr Al-Uloom, met Habhab and expressed Baghdad’s complaints about the “inappropriate” remarks by Aoun.
The PMF is also non-plussed. “The PMF is an important part of Iraq’s official security and military structure…It is a government-sanctioned institution and should not be cited as an example in the context of Lebanon’s internal affairs, which do not concern Iraq,” an Iraqi official told the New Arab.
“The PMF is an essential part of Iraq’s security and military apparatus; it is a legal and governmental institution and an integral component of the Iraqi state,” said the Iraqi foreign ministry undersecretary for bilateral relations Mohammed Bahr al-Uloom, Rudaw news in Erbil reported.
“The comparison made by the Lebanese president was inappropriate,” said Bahr al-Uloom. “It would have been better not to involve Iraq in Lebanon’s internal affairs or to cite an official Iraqi institution in this context.”
Aoun’s comments “caused discomfort among Iraqis, particularly since Iraq has consistently stood by Lebanon during times of hardship.” Iraq wants Aoun to “rectify his statement in a manner that reinforces the fraternal relationship between the two countries and affirms mutual respect for each state’s sovereignty.”
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