Several powerful Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq are prepared to disarm for the first time to avert the threat of escalating conflict with the US administration, multiple senior commanders and Iraqi officials told Reuters.
The move to defuse tensions follows repeated private warnings from US officials to the Iraqi government since January, sources including six militia commanders said.
Washington has told Baghdad it could target the groups with airstrikes unless it acted to disband the militias operating on its soil.
The militia commanders, from groups including Kataib Hezbollah and Nujabaa, said their main ally, Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), had given them its blessing to make necessary decisions to avoid a damaging conflict with the US and Israel.
