The U.S. Department of State has appointed Joshua Harris as its new chargé d’affaires in Baghdad at a sensitive time, as Washington begins withdrawing troops from Iraq while pressing the Iraqi government to dismantle the Popular Mobilization Forces and curb Iran’s influence.

As U.S. forces pull out of central and western Iraq toward the northern Kurdistan region, reports say the PMF are being deployed to Iraqi army camps, sparking speculation about potential Israeli strikes on Iran-backed Shia groups.

As Iraq’s parliament set its late-August agenda without the Popular Mobilization Forces law, questions arose over whether Shiite factions had bowed to U.S. pressure and abandoned legislation they once pledged to force through.

Days after Iranian officials rejected calls to dissolve the PMF, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, arrived in Baghdad on August 11, 2025, for a three-day visit to sign a joint security memorandum.

Since early July 2025, Iraq’s Kurdistan region has faced unprecedented drone and rocket attacks on airports and oil fields amid growing tensions with Baghdad over halted public-sector salaries.