Pro-Iranian militias in Iraq may move away from the Syrian border after years of using the area to move into Syria and smuggle weapons to pro-Iran groups there, according to a recent report.

This is a significant development and follows reports that the Iraqi militias have decided to temporarily stop targeting Israel. In addition, the militias are facing pressure at home as a result of the fall of the pro-Iran Assad regime.

The militias in Iraq are part of the Popular Mobilization Units, a group of pro-Iran militias that were mostly formed after 2014 to fight ISIS. However, these groups also have deeper roots in Iraq and the region and form part of the Iranian “axis of resistance” alongside Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.