Days after US forces left Iraq, photos circulated on social media, showing Iranian-backed militias driving over an American flag during an event in Iraq.
The militias have long been connected to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They have carried out hundreds of attacks on US forces over the past decade.
“The PMF, an official division of the Iraqi government’s security services, is seen desecrating the US flag out of disrespect and praising the murderous regime in Iran,” US Rep. Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina) wrote Sunday on X/Twitter.
“If you needed any more proof that Iraq is an Iranian province… [Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi], is this what you think of America? Free Iraq from Iran,” he wrote.
Victoria J. Taylor, director of the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based foreign-policy think tank, wrote Saturday night on X: “When Iraq declared ‘Sovereignty Days’ to celebrate the departure of US troops and the end of Operation Inherent Resolve, I winced. The OIR [Operation Inherent Resolve] mission was present in Iraq at the request of the Iraqi government to fight ISIS.”
“I just knew there would eventually be some event where people were walking or driving over the flag, and here it is,” she wrote. “This time by the Popular Mobilization Forces, not just the militias. I know this doesn’t represent all Iraqis, but the Iraqi government should have done better in avoiding this kind of blatant anti-Americanism from the official forces.”
Taylor is a former deputy assistant secretary for Iraq and Iran in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
The desecration of the American flag has been posted on social media.
PMF displays Hezbollah flags
Rudaw Media Network, a news channel in the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq, said it “could not find photos on the PMF’s social-media accounts showing the US flag being desecrated during the event, although the PMF published images showing the Israeli flag being desecrated.”
“The PMF also displayed the flag of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement,” it reported. “Hezbollah, which has been significantly weakened by Israeli attacks, is part of the Iran-aligned so-called Axis of Resistance, which also includes several Iraqi armed groups operating under the PMF umbrella.”
Other reports showed alleged members of the militias with images of Hamas leaders. This illustrates how Iran continues to have influence in Iraq and how the militias tend to feel allegiance to Iran and other Iranian proxies.
The Iraqi government says it wants to rein in the militias and disarm them, but it is having trouble reaching an agreement with them. Most of the militias have been sanctioned as terrorist groups by the US.
Several militias refuse to disarm despite Iraqi government's demand
The US has also targeted the militias with airstrikes. There are also rewards for information leading to the whereabouts of militia leaders.
There are about a dozen powerful militias. Several of them have said they would not disarm. The Iraqi government wants to disarm them by June 2027.
It’s not clear how the more extreme groups, such as Kataib Hezbollah, will be disarmed. They are very close to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran wants to use Iraq as a front line. It also uses Iraq as a base for attacks against Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and other countries.
The militias have also targeted Israel and killed American service members in Jordan. They also attacked a key Saudi Arabian pipeline in September.
The trampling of the American flag by the militias is not new. Nevertheless, their activities will now receive more attention that the US has left Iraq.
Baghdad is talking about “sovereignty,” but it won’t have sovereignty as long as Iran can use the militias in Iraq.