Muqtada al-Sadr's decision to sever ties between Saraya al-Salam and his Shia National Movement and place the armed faction under Iraqi state authority has moved into the implementation phase, with a newly formed committee holding its first meeting and beginning work on the process.
The move is being closely watched in Iraq as a potential model for regulating relations between the state and armed factions, at a time of renewed debate over the future role of paramilitary groups and growing pressure to strengthen state control over weapons.
On Friday, the committee tasked by al-Sadr announced it had begun overseeing the separation of Saraya al-Salam's military wing from the Shia National Movement, in line with directives issued by the influential cleric.
In a statement, al-Sadr's office said: "In implementation of what was stated in al-Sadr's declaration, in which he ordered the completion of procedures to separate the military wing of Saraya al-Salam from the Shia National Movement within a maximum period of one week, the assigned committee began its work on Friday to follow up the completion of procedures for separating the military wing of Saraya al-Salam from the Shia National Movement."
While figures close to al-Sadr have remained silent on the practical details of the process, Iraqi government institutions have begun monitoring the matter amid a widely held belief that a transition of this scale cannot be completed within days.
A government source familiar with the matter told The New Arab that "the committee formed by al-Sadr officially began its work on Friday, alongside government efforts aimed at accompanying the procedures and facilitating their implementation".
The source added that there were "direct instructions from the prime minister to continuously follow this file, considering it an important opportunity to strengthen the state project and reinforce the principle that weapons should remain exclusively in the hands of official institutions".
According to the source, the government views the initiative as a possible starting point for a broader process involving other armed groups if it proves successful.
Political analyst Raad al-Alwani described the move as a significant opportunity for Baghdad.
"The government's success in managing this file will give it significant political and security momentum in one of the most complicated issues Iraq has faced since 2003," he told The New Arab .
Al-Alwani said "the real test today is not the announcement of the decision itself, but the ability of government institutions to transform it into a practical, administrative, and legal reality".
The move comes amid growing domestic and international pressure to strengthen state control over weapons and regulate relations between armed groups and official security institutions.
Previous attempts by al-Sadr in 2017 and 2019 to dissolve or reorganise Saraya al-Salam never translated into fully implemented measures on the ground.
The current initiative therefore represents the most concrete effort yet to move the faction away from direct political control and into a state framework.
While the final details of the integration process remain unclear, the issue has entered a new stage focused on implementation rather than political declarations, placing the Iraqi government under scrutiny as it seeks to manage one of the country's most sensitive security files.