ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s pro-Iran armed group Kata’ib Hezbollah has extended by five days a deadline it set for the US Embassy in Baghdad, while warning that all foreign forces must leave the country or face further escalation.
In a statement on Monday, Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, a security official for the group, said that "the duration of the deadline granted to the American embassy of evil will be extended for another five days," adding they will "deal with the enemy's violations accordingly."
Assaf framed the move within the broader regional conflict, stating: "This war initiated by the American enemy shall only reach its conclusion at our hands."
"Our primary condition is the expulsion of all foreign troops from the north to the south of Iraq," he added.
The extention of the deadline comes after the group announced on Thursday a five-day halt to strikes targeting the US Embassy in Baghdad, conditioning the pause on an end to bombings in the capital and across other Iraqi provinces.
Assaf also accused Iraq’s National Intelligence Service of widespread foreign ties. "We have information that 100 percent of the Kurdish officers belonging to it are linked to Mossad and the Americans," he said, adding that "more than 70 percent of the service's personnel" have ties to American, Jordanian, and Emirati intelligence.
Kata’ib Hezbollah logo. Graphic: Rudaw
Iraq23/03/2026
Pro-Iran group extends US Embassy deadline, escalates threats against Iraqi institutions
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He also signaled that the group intends to exert influence over Iraq’s political future, stating: "no new government will see the light of day unless it bears the stamp of the Islamic Resistance."
In his remarks, he further criticized Iraqi political factions that have condemned attacks by armed groups, calling them "mercenaries," and reiterated opposition to the deployment of foreign air defense systems in Iraq.
Kata’ib Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist organization by Washington.
The group's Thursday announcement came days after it said its spokesperson and senior security official, Abu Ali al-Askari, was killed in an airstrike in Baghdad.
Last week, Askari said that the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Israeli strikes at the start of the war had made undermining US assets and expelling them from the region a top priority for Iran-aligned Iraqi armed groups.
In late February, the group had called on its fighters to prepare for what it described as a potentially prolonged “war of attrition” that could exceed US expectations.
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