Iranian-backed militias are seeking to benefit from the clashes between the Syrian transitional government and the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The US backed the SDF in the war against ISIS. In clashes that began in early January, the Syrian government began to push the SDF and its Kurdish fighters out of areas in Aleppo, which eventually led to the SDF retreating from a huge swath of Syria.
As the SDF left those areas, the new Syrian government took over more than 160 kilometers along the Iraqi-Syrian border.
The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which are mostly made up of Iranian-backed militias, have now deployed to the border.
Many major groups in PMF are US-designated terrorist groups
Also called the Hashd al-Shaabi, many key groups within the PMF are US-designated terrorist groups known for attacks on American forces and on the Kurdistan Region. Kataib Hezbollah, for instance, is part of the PMF and killed Americans in Jordan in January 2024. These groups have also attacked Israel.
The PMF is made up of a number of different brigades. Some of them are hardcore Iranian proxies linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Some reports even say that the PMF played a role in the recent Iranian crackdown on protesters. Notably, this network partook in the murder of protesters in Iraq in 2019.
Now, the PMF wants to manipulate the crisis in Syria to claim it is “protecting” Iraq.
This is the same bait-and-switch that Hezbollah uses in Lebanon to justify keeping its weapons. The PMF has integrated itself as a kind of paramilitary force in Iraq and receives state salaries.
As of now, according to the Kurdish Rudaw network, PMF “commanders deployed along the Iraq-Syria border on Saturday dismissed what they described as threats from Damascus-affiliated forces, saying Iraq’s borders are secure as Baghdad steps up measures to prevent a spillover of instability from Syria.”
“Abu al-Hassanein, the commander of the PMF’s al-Tufuf Brigade, rejected a video circulating on social media purportedly taken by the Syrian Arab army and its allied factions that has been interpreted as a warning to Iraq,” the report further said.
Moreover, Hassanein told Rudaw at the al-Qaim Iraqi-Syrian border crossing, “This is weak and cowardly propaganda. We are now on the [border]. Let them come and try their luck once again. They will see that they face the heroic role of Iraq’s security forces and Hashd al-Shaabi.”
This demonstrates how the PMF is seeking to show that it is needed to defend Iraq. The latest movement comes amid US concerns that the PMF may be seeking various posts in Iraqi ministries after the Iraqi elections in November 2025.
America wants the militias excluded from the government. “Abu Saif al-Tamimi, a representative of the same brigade, said PMF forces would prevent any breach of Iraqi territory,” Rudaw reported.
“Let them say what they want; as long as we are here, they cannot reach Karbala or advance one foot into Iraq,” Tamimi said.
“Qasim Muslih, the PMF’s Anbar operations commander, denied any direct coordination with the Kurdish-led SDF, saying such matters fall under state authority,” Rudaw also noted.
“No, we have no contact. I say again, we have no contact. If the Iraqi government has any coordination between both countries, they [the government] handle it themselves, not the commanders here,” Muslih said.