The Iraqi government has rejected a U.S. proposal to maintain U.S. troops in the country after Sept. 30, the deadline set for the disarmament of armed factions, a government spokesperson announced Monday in Baghdad.

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi dismissed the plan, which conditioned the continued military presence on the handover of weapons by resistance groups, according to spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi.

“The Government is proceeding to complete the procedures and commitments related to the confinement of weapons, the regulation of their possession and use, and the unification of decision-making. The State is exercising its legal authority to manage the affairs of society,” al-Aboudi said at a press conference.

He added that dialogue with the factions is advancing in an orderly manner and that decisions are based on national interests. “The Government is closely following regional developments and Iraq will not be part of the conflict,” he stressed.

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Resistance factions had offered to store their weapons in their own depots and freeze military activity for two years instead of handing over arsenals to the state. Sources affiliated with the Coordination Framework, led by Shia sectors, confirmed the offer.

Three Iraqi political sources said the government received the proposal in recent days. Under the plan, unidentified factions would cease armed operations and place weapons in designated warehouses for two years while retaining control of them rather than transferring them to Iraqi security forces. Baghdad’s response was negative, the sources said.

Iraqi PM Ali al-Zaidi has pledged that the country will be free of any foreign military presence on its soil and that weapons will be solely under state control by October 1.

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Kataib Hezbollah was among the groups promoting the initiative. It linked the proposal to the future of U.S. forces in Iraq and demanded guarantees that its leaders would not be targeted. Meanwhile, tension with the government continues to grow. Kataib Hezbollah warned that the resistance is “losing patience” with Baghdad. A group official denounced earlier this month that security forces are repressing the resistance and arresting prominent figures.

The Sept. 30 deadline was established under pressure from Washington. In late July, Baghdad set that date as the deadline for disarming all factions, including resistance movements. Some organizations agreed to hand over weapons to the state, while others, including Kataib Hezbollah and the Al-Nujaba Movement, refused.

The dispute involves the Popular Mobilization Units, which have been integrated into Iraq’s military and security apparatus since 2014. Recent U.S. and Saudi airstrikes against those units caused casualties, and resistance factions maintain close ties with them.

The resistance demands a total U.S. withdrawal. The bilateral agreement provides for a “transitional” withdrawal, shifting from a combat role to an advisory role with a sustained military presence. The prime minister has now effectively ruled out that arrangement. The factions also reject the presence of Turkish forces, which have been stationed in Iraq for years.

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