Starving the militias: Washington’s smartest move against Iran’s proxies |
Tehran’s regional hegemony was not forged through the deployment of its own conventional divisions, but through the cultivation of a sprawling network of proxies and paramilitary franchises, funded, trained, and commanded by Iran to wage its battles. In Iraq, these groups have lobbed missiles at Israel, sent drones across borders, and terrorised civilians. For years, the international community responded with kinetic strikes that often only served to martyr militia leaders and fuel recruitment. Now, however, Washington has found the pressure point that hurts most: their wallets.
The Trump administration is withholding Iraq’s oil revenues, creating a financial strain aimed directly at the Iranian-backed militias that depend on those funds to pay fighters, buy weapons, and maintain influence.
The Trump administration is withholding Iraq’s oil revenues, creating a financial strain aimed directly at the Iranian-backed militias that depend on those funds to pay fighters, buy weapons, and maintain influence.
No dramatic military strikes. No ground troops. Just the cold logic of economic suffocation.
The power of the purse
The strategy is rooted in the realization that these groups are as much commercial enterprises as they are ideological ones. The militia economy in Iraq is parasitic; it requires a host with deep pockets. By restricting the flow of dollars from the New York Fed to Baghdad, Washington is effectively cutting the oxygen to the IRGC’s most lethal lung.
It works: Without funds, armed groups lose loyalty, split apart, and fighters leave. Commanders quarrel. The........