Why Syria and Iraq are taking different approaches to armed groups

Analysis

Shelly Kittleson

Demonstrators ride through a street while waving Syrian flags during a rally in Al-Hasakah, Syria, on Oct. 9, 2026. Dozens of Arab residents gathered in the city to demand state control over the Al-Hasakah Governorate, while Syrian Ministry of Interior General Security personnel and Kurdish Asayish special forces deployed to maintain order. — Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

AMMAN — The trampling and desecration of the US flag has been a common sight in Iraq in recent decades, including during recent Sovereignty Day celebrations marking the Sept. 30 withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from the country.

Iraq’s response under Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, however, has been different: Several people involved were reportedly arrested and an inquiry was ordered. As of Oct. 8, the number of people arrested, as well as their names, positions and any affiliations they may have had, had not been released to the public. Several prominent Iraqi officials have shown themselves in favor of this disciplinary action.

Akram al-Kaabi, commander of the Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (HHN) armed faction, railed against the “dangerous precedent” that the arrests had set, posting an older video of him walking on a US flag. The paramilitary group is backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and was one of the first Iraqi armed factions to cross into Syria to support the government of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in its fight against armed opposition forces. HHN, which formed in 2013, played a major role in the battle for Aleppo. It was designated a "foreign terrorist organization" by the US on Sept. 19, 2025.

In a 2015 interview, Kaabi said that HHN took orders from Iran’s former Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and that they were prepared to fight alongside the Ansar Allah armed group — known as the Houthis — in Yemen and that he and other Iran-linked factions in Iraq could and would overthrow the Iraqi government if Khamenei deemed it a "religious duty." Khamenei was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Tehran on Feb. 28.