After years of pause, Iraqi parliament pushes for new military recruitment

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Parliament's Security and Defense Committee revealed on Friday the need to recruit up to 30,000 new volunteers into the Iraqi army.

Committee member Ali Naama Al-Bandawi told Shafaq News, "The Security and Defense Committee intends to approach the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to open the recruitment process,” as there has been no recruitment since 2017, except for 10,000 positions in the Ministry of Defense allocated to the Special Forces branch.

The spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Major General Yahya Rasool, previously told Shafaq News, "The Ministry of Defense is awaiting budget instructions and allocations. If financial resources are available, recruitment will be announced through the Ministry’s official platforms."

In 2023, the American website Global Firepower reported that the Iraqi army ranked third in the Arab world and 23^rd globally in terms of its "combat-ready" forces, which amount to 200,000 personnel.

Iraq had ranked 57^th globally in 2021, climbed to 34^th in 2022, and further advanced to 23^rd in 2023.

The number of Iraqi army personnel stands at 330,000 soldiers, including 200,000 active-duty forces and 130,000 paramilitary troops, with no reserve forces, according to Global Firepower statistics for 2022.