US-backed effort to disarm Iraq’s Iran-linked militias hits setback, experts say

The Trump administration’s push to compel the new Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to dismantle pro-Iran terrorist militias is moving forward — even with some setbacks.

As Mideast experts are taking a wait-and-see approach tinged with mild optimism, a senior Iraqi official announced in late August that Baghdad will not treat Sept. 30 as a deadline to disarm the pro-Iran groups known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also called the Popular Mobilization Forces.

The Iraqi government...