Iraq sets Sept. 21 deadline for armed factions to surrender weapons

The Iraqi government has set Sept. 21 as a final deadline for armed factions to hand over their weapons to state authorities, a government spokesman said Monday.

“Sept. 21 is the final deadline for handing over weapons, and at the same time for the withdrawal of the international coalition,” Haider al-Aboudi said in statements carried by the state news agency INA.

Separately, Aboudi said the Iraqi government approved Iran’s request to hold funeral ceremonies for late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Iraq on July 8.

On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would coordinate with Iraq on arrangements for Khamenei’s funeral procession at Iraq’s holy shrines.

*Writing by Rania Abushamala in Istanbul