Iraq’s official news agency reported that Baghdad will “correct” a list that had designated two Iranian-backed militias—Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen—as terrorist organizations.
This statement came just an hour after Reuters and regional outlets reported that Iraq had, in fact, defined both groups as terror organizations. The sudden reversal indicates strong Iranian pressure on the Iraqi government.
The state news agency, citing the “Committee for Terror Financing Freeze,” did not mention the groups by name but confirmed that the list published earlier would be amended. The initial announcement drew significant attention because Iraq has long tried to balance its ties between Iran and the US; openly labeling Tehran’s proxies as terrorists would have sharply tilted that balance.
Earlier, Reuters quoted Iraq’s official newspaper saying the government had decided to freeze financial assets belonging to “terrorists,” including Hezbollah and the Houthis. The published list contained 24 organizations, with Hezbollah and Yemen’s Ansar Allah included among them.