Iraq's government has softened a September 30 deadline for armed factions to surrender their weapons, reframing it as the start of a regulatory process rather than a firm cutoff, the Interior Ministry confirmed. The disarmament campaign targets an estimated 6 million weapons held outside official institutions, with Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi — a 40-year-old businessman elected in May as a compromise candidate — insisting the effort will proceed through negotiation rather than military force. Iran-backed militias, including Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, have refused to comply, while the United States has linked Baghdad's access to dollar flows critical to its economy to progress on bringing weapons under state control.