US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a “strongly worded warning” to Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani regarding any potential support by Iraqi resistance factions for military operations carried out by Yemen, according to a report by Shafaq news agency.
“Hegseth informed Sudani that any interference by Iraqi armed factions regarding the US targeting of the Houthis in Yemen would prompt Washington to launch a swift military response against those factions inside Iraq, and therefore they must be prevented from any interference, as happened previously in the wars in Lebanon and Gaza,” sources told the agency on 17 March.
“[Hegseth] stressed to Sudani the need to expedite … disarming the armed factions and work to dismantle them. He emphasized that this issue is of great interest to [US] President [Donald] Trump and his administration. Sudani confirmed that the government is working on this issue and is in dialogue with the armed parties to reach an agreement in this regard,” the sources added.
The warning came during a phone call between Hegseth and the Iraqi premier on Sunda