Iraq's Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada has rejected claims by Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein that the armed group agreed to a government plan to bring its weapons under state control, saying it signed no such accord. In a statement issued late on Saturday, the group dismissed what it called "inaccurate remarks" by the minister and stressed that it had neither declared, endorsed nor signed anything concerning its weapons.

The group said the only document it had signed was a sovereignty agreement alongside three other armed factions, the Coordination Framework parties and the prime minister, and that it remained committed to that agreement's terms. It urged government officials to be accurate and responsible in public statements to avoid misleading the public.

Earlier on Saturday, Hussein said Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi had reached understandings with four armed factions on restricting weapons to state control and strengthening the security forces. The minister asserted that Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada had agreed to regulate their weapons, while talks with Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah were still under way.

The dispute comes as Baghdad presses ahead with a plan, ordered by the prime minister on 11 August, to prepare a bill placing all weapons solely under state control. Some factions, including Saraya al-Salam, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib al-Imam Ali, have consented to merge with the national armed forces, while Kataib Hezbollah has said it will keep its weapons. Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, the 14th Brigade of the Popular Mobilization Forces, was designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in September 2025.