Muqtada al-Sadr Orders Full Dissolution of Saraya al-Salam into Iraqi State Forces

Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced the complete dissolution of his Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades) militia and its full integration into Iraqi state security forces — a potentially historic realignment of Iraq's PMF landscape. In an official statement, Sadr declared: 'It has become necessary for us to announce the dissolution of Saraya al-Salam — a complete dissolution — and their full attachment to the state and the general authority over military formations.' Civilian elements of the movement will reorganize under the unarmed 'Bunyan al-Marsus (Solid Structure)' framework, explicitly prohibited from operating with headquarters, weapons, uniforms, titles, or any military paraphernalia. A formal integration ceremony was subsequently held at Samarra. Saraya al-Salam was formed in June 2014 following Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani's fatwa mobilizing Iraqis against the ISIS advance, drawing on the organizational base of Sadr's earlier Mahdi Army (which he had formally disbanded in 2008). The announcement came 11 days after PM Zaidi's swearing-in and was interpreted as Sadr responding to both US pressure for PMF reform and PM Zaidi's domestic reform agenda. Analysts noted historical caution: Sadr had previously disbanded and reconstituted armed formations in 2008 and 2022 in response to political conditions, and his movement retains significant political and civil mobilization capacity independent of formal military structures.