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Iran Warns against Dissolving Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani meets with Humam Hamoudi, the head of Iraq’s Islamic Supreme Council, in Tehran. (Tasnim)
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani meets with Humam Hamoudi, the head of Iraq’s Islamic Supreme Council, in Tehran. (Tasnim)
    London, Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat
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Iran Warns against Dissolving Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani meets with Humam Hamoudi, the head of Iraq’s Islamic Supreme Council, in Tehran. (Tasnim)
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani meets with Humam Hamoudi, the head of Iraq’s Islamic Supreme Council, in Tehran. (Tasnim)

Iran warned on Monday against any attempts to dissolve the Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq, and considered any calls to dismantle those units, which include militias loyal to Tehran, as a “conspiracy.”

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said that calls for dissolving the PMF is a “new conspiracy that would drive the comeback of instabilty and terrorism to the region.”

He made his remarks during a meeting in Tehran on Monday with Humam Hamoudi, the head of Iraq’s Islamic Supreme Council and the country’s first deputy parliament speaker, reported Iran’s news agency ISNA.

Shamkhani added: “The patience and perseverance of the Iraqi people and the heroics of the country’s army, security and popular forces, especially the PMF, led to the destruction of the region's greatest threat, ISIS, despite the discontent of some countries.”

He stressed that the wisdom of the Iraqi officials and deputies would not allow enemies to sew conspiracies that would disintegrate the country.

Sources close to the Islamic Supreme Council said that Hamoudi’s visit to Tehran aims to inform the Iranian leadership about the nature of alliances in the upcoming elections and to discuss the fate of Iraq’s Shi’ite “National Alliance.”

Some Shi’ite blocs and figures, including the Islamic Supreme Council, are concerned about the “ambiguous” future that awaits the National Alliance, after the withdrawal of the Sadrist Movement and divisions among its members.

Some sources said that Iran was currently exerting efforts to “repair” the crack left inside the Alliance, and to make sure that Shi’ite forces would win the prime ministry seat during the upcoming round of elections.

On Sunday, Hamoudi criticized French President Emmanuel Macron, who on Saturday called on Iraq to dismantle all militias, including an Iran-backed military force, and for the government in Baghdad to open dialogue to ease tensions with Iraqi Kurdish leaders.

Hamoudi said that the French position was an intervention in the internal affairs of Iraq.

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World

Israeli Rescuers Search for Missing in Building Strike, Two Dead

Israeli rescue teams search for missing people amid the rubble of a residential building a day after it was struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, Israel, Monday, April 6, 2026. (AP)
Israeli rescue teams search for missing people amid the rubble of a residential building a day after it was struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, Israel, Monday, April 6, 2026. (AP)
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Israeli Rescuers Search for Missing in Building Strike, Two Dead

Israeli rescue teams search for missing people amid the rubble of a residential building a day after it was struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, Israel, Monday, April 6, 2026. (AP)
Israeli rescue teams search for missing people amid the rubble of a residential building a day after it was struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, Israel, Monday, April 6, 2026. (AP)

Israeli firefighters were searching for two missing people in the rubble of a residential building in the northern city of Haifa after it was struck by an Iranian missile that killed two others, authorities said Monday.

The direct hit on a seven-storey building tore through sections of the structure which has partially collapsed, the military and rescue services said.

AFP footage showed rescuers using flashlights to search through rubble and scattered concrete blocks.

The strike took place minutes after the military warned it had detected a new round of missiles fired from Iran at around 1500 GMT.

Elad Edri, chief of staff of Israel's Home Front Command, said that four people were missing.

"We have a major destruction site," he said in a video statement.

Israel's Fire and Rescue Services said later that two of the four people trapped under the rubble had been found dead.

The building was hit by a "direct impact of a missile", a military spokesperson told AFP, confirming it was fired from Iran.

- Elderly man, baby wounded -

Israel's emergency service, Magen David Adom, said four people were wounded in the strike, including a 10-month-old baby who suffered a head injury.

An 82-year-old man was also in a "serious condition", MDA said. A hospital later said he was stable.

He was "wounded by a heavy object and the blast", the MDA said, adding that the other three suffered shrapnel and blast injuries.

Dozens of Israeli security and members of rescue forces were deployed at the site of the strike, an AFP correspondent reported.

Images and footage published by MDA show smoke rising from the remains of a flattened building in a densely populated area, and stretchers laid on the road by rescuers for casualties.

MDA paramedic Shevach Rothenshtrych quoted residents saying that there were casualties trapped under the rubble on the lower floors, and the 82-year-old was rescued after first responders "managed to move large pieces of concrete with our hands".

His colleague Tal Shustak said that when emergency calls were received, "we were dispatched in large forces to the scene and saw extensive destruction, including glass, smoke and concrete scattered across the ground".

On Monday, the military detected fresh waves of missiles fired from Iran, and each time it said its "defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat".

Iran has fired missiles daily at Israel since February 28, in retaliation to joint US-Israeli attacks on the country that has killed several top Iranian leaders, including supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Since the start of the conflict, Israeli and US airstrikes have attacked a number of Iran's missile production sites and also nuclear facilities.

World

North Korea Distancing Itself from Iran to Leave Door Open for US Talks, Seoul Says

This picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on July 27, 2025 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. AFP
This picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on July 27, 2025 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. AFP
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North Korea Distancing Itself from Iran to Leave Door Open for US Talks, Seoul Says

This picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on July 27, 2025 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. AFP
This picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on July 27, 2025 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. AFP

North Korea appears to be distancing itself from longtime partner Iran and carefully managing its public messaging to preserve the possibility of a new relationship with the US after the Iran war, South Korean lawmakers said on Monday, citing the spy agency.

Seoul's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said North Korea had not sent weapons or supplies so far to Iran since the conflict started on February 28, and did not issue public condolences upon the death of ‌Supreme Leader ‌Ali Khamenei, who was killed in air ‌strikes, ⁠said lawmaker Park Sun-won ⁠who attended a closed-door briefing held by the NIS, reported Reuters.

Pyongyang also sent no congratulatory message when Khamenei's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was selected as the new supreme leader, Park said, citing the NIS.

While China and Russia had frequently issued statements on the conflict, North Korea's Foreign Ministry had only issued ⁠two toned-down statements so far, consistent, the NIS ‌said, with North Korea's recent ‌tendency to avoid direct criticism of US President Donald Trump.

The NIS assessed ‌this restraint as preparation to secure new diplomatic space ‌after an anticipated May summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump, the lawmaker said.

North Korea was also facing significant economic strain related to the Middle East crisis, with disruptions to the procurement ‌of industrial supplies, rising prices, and a surging exchange rate, the NIS told lawmakers.

North Korea ⁠was ⁠also trying to secure Russian oil supplies, the NIS said.

At North Korea's Ninth Workers' Party Congress in late February, Kim appeared to leave an opening for talks with Washington, saying there was no reason the countries "cannot get along well," if the US recognized North Korea's status as a nuclear state and withdrew its hostile policy.

The NIS assessed Kim had made the remarks in his own voice as a deliberate signal, aimed at keeping relations with Trump in good standing and positioning Pyongyang for a new diplomatic chapter once the Middle East conflict subsides, Park said.

World

Germany Works to Clarify New Rules on Fighting-Age Men Leaving Country

Soldiers of the Guard Battalion of the German army Bundeswehr stand in position on the day German Chancellor Friedrich Merz presents the Chancellor's Ribbon of Honour to the Guard Battalion, which is responsible for protocol duties and the protection of the German government, at the Federal Defense Ministry in Berlin, Germany, March 23, 2026. (Reuters)
Soldiers of the Guard Battalion of the German army Bundeswehr stand in position on the day German Chancellor Friedrich Merz presents the Chancellor's Ribbon of Honour to the Guard Battalion, which is responsible for protocol duties and the protection of the German government, at the Federal Defense Ministry in Berlin, Germany, March 23, 2026. (Reuters)
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Germany Works to Clarify New Rules on Fighting-Age Men Leaving Country

Soldiers of the Guard Battalion of the German army Bundeswehr stand in position on the day German Chancellor Friedrich Merz presents the Chancellor's Ribbon of Honour to the Guard Battalion, which is responsible for protocol duties and the protection of the German government, at the Federal Defense Ministry in Berlin, Germany, March 23, 2026. (Reuters)
Soldiers of the Guard Battalion of the German army Bundeswehr stand in position on the day German Chancellor Friedrich Merz presents the Chancellor's Ribbon of Honour to the Guard Battalion, which is responsible for protocol duties and the protection of the German government, at the Federal Defense Ministry in Berlin, Germany, March 23, 2026. (Reuters)

Germany's armed forces are working on clarifying a provision in a recently updated military service law that requires fighting-age men to gain permission to leave the country for more than three months, the defense ministry said.

The law went into effect in January, but the requirement - which ‌theoretically affects millions ‌of men between the ages ‌of 17 ⁠and 45 in the ⁠European Union's most populous country - had gone mostly unnoticed until a local newspaper report highlighted it on Friday.

A defense ministry spokesperson stressed that military service in Germany is voluntary, adding that the ministry was "currently drafting specific regulations for granting exemptions from the requirement for ⁠approval, also to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy".

The controversial ‌new military service law ‌was passed last year to boost Bundeswehr numbers and meet NATO ‌targets amid the growing view within Germany that ‌it has relied too long on the United States and as tensions with Russia spur calls for stronger defense capabilities across Europe.

The legislation seeks to ensure a robust and ‌reliable military registration system, the defense ministry spokesperson said in an emailed response.

"In the case ⁠of an ⁠emergency, we must know who may be residing abroad for an extended period," he said.

He declined to comment further on how the process may eventually look.

Germany wants to increase the ranks of active soldiers to 260,000 by 2035 from 183,000 at the end of last year, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz telling military leaders last year that the country needed to become capable of defending itself as quickly as possible, and needed soldiers.

Opposition politicians over the weekend criticized the government for creating confusion with the law.