In Washington, D.C., policy circles, Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces are often described as a legitimate national force that emerged in 2014 to fight the Islamic State. Many policymakers view the PMF as a formal component of Iraq’s security apparatus, an institution that gained legitimacy through religious authority, parliamentary legislation, and its role in defeating ISIS.

This narrative is dangerously misleading.

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In reality, the PMF was shaped under the direct influence of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Quds Force. Its purpose extended far beyond the battlefield against ISIS. The organization was designed to consolidate the power of Iraq’s Shia political establishment while simultaneously expanding Iranian strategic influence inside the Iraqi state.

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Structurally and ideologically, the PMF closely resembles Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In many respects, it functions as a parallel security structure embedded within Iraq’s system but aligned with Tehran’s strategic agenda.

Despite mounting evidence of its destabilizing role, three persistent myths about the PMF continue to shape Washington’s understanding of the organization.

Myth 1: The PMF was created by Sistani’s fatwa

The most common claim is that the PMF was created in response to a religious fatwa issued by Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani in 2014 after the collapse of Iraqi security forces in Mosul.

This interpretation misrepresents what Sistani actually said.

Sistani issued a call for collective........

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