ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The head of a prominent pro-Iran Iraqi armed group on Thursday warned against escalations in the region, vowing to “humiliate” the US if ongoing tensions give way to violent conflict.

"If war breaks out… America’s pride will be humiliated again, as it was the first time in Iraq,” leader of the Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada Abu Ala’ al-Walai said in an X post on Thursday.

“Neither they [US] nor its agents will remain in the Middle East,” Walai said. “Regimes that sought protection from the occupation will fall, and then victory will belong to God and His faithful servants.”

Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh on Wednesday threatened that the US “will be forced to leave the region” if it decides to pursue any “aggression” against Tehran in the event of a breakdown in the nuclear talks.

“If the negotiations do not reach a conclusion and a conflict is imposed on us, the casualties of the other side will certainly be far greater than ours, and in that case, America will be forced to leave the region because all of its bases are within our reach and we have access to them, and we will target them all in the host countries without consideration,” said Nasirzadeh.

Iraq’s proximity and close ties to Iran have rendered the country unable to strike a balance between the US and Iran in terms of international relations, with Baghdad facing mounting pressure from the US to limit its ties to Tehran, including the disarming of Iran-backed militia groups.

Iran-backed Iraqi militia groups claimed hundreds of attacks against Israeli and American targets between October 2023 and October 2024 in response to the war in Gaza.

Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada has long been one of the loudest anti-US voices in Iraq.

In December, despite reports of mounting US pressure on Iraq to disarm such groups, the Sayyid al-Shuhada refused the call.

Speaking to The New Region at the time, Kadhim al-Fartousi, spokesperson for Iraq’s Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades, denied the existence of such a request from the US, stressing that even if there is one, it is “completely rejected” and the factions will not respond to it.

“The Iraqi factions will not surrender their weapons. These weapons are important in resisting the occupation, and these weapons have resolved many issues in confronting terrorism, as well as regional issues in supporting Gaza and Lebanon, and for this reason, there will be no surrender of weapons at all,” he added.