A source in one of the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq told the Lebanese newspaper "Al-Akhbar," affiliated with Hezbollah, that official Iraqi entities have opened communication channels with the militias, especially after the war between Israel and Iran. According to the source, the militias were offered the possibility to disarm "before regional circumstances change and Iraq becomes a conflict zone," but the proposal was rejected almost unanimously and "the leaders saw it as an American trap designed to work through internal elements." Earlier, U.S. envoy to Syria and Lebanon Thomas Bark said that in addition to Hezbollah, the militias should also be disarmed.