ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council President Faiq Zidan met on Friday with United States Special Envoy Tom Barrack in Baghdad, as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue.
In a statement, the Supreme Judicial Council said the two sides “discussed the role of the judiciary in completing the remaining constitutional requirements in the coming stage,” without providing further details.
The meeting comes a day after the US and Iran concluded a third round of talks in Geneva without reaching a final agreement. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media that “good progress” had been made in the discussions, with both sides set to hold another round of talks in Vienna next week.
Washington has stepped up pressure on Baghdad to curb Tehran’s influence and limit the role of Iran-backed armed factions, urging Iraq to dissolve armed groups, including those formally incorporated into state institutions such as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
In early January, Zidan told Rudaw that several factions - Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), Kata’ib Imam Ali, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada and Ansar Allah al-Awfiya - had pledged to keep their weapons under Iraqi government control. However, Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful pro-Iran militia designated as a terrorist organization by Washington, has rejected disarmament.