Islamic Army in Iraq

The Islamic Army in Iraq (Arabic: الجيش الإسلامي في العراق, romanized: al-Jaysh al-Islāmi fī'l-`irāq, abbr. IAI) is an underground Islamist militant organization formed in Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S.-led Coalition forces, and the subsequent collapse of the Ba'athist regime headed by Saddam Hussein. IAI was regarded as one of the largest, sophisticated and most influential Sunni insurgent groups in Iraq that led an asymmetrical military insurgency against Coalition forces. The group, made up largely of former Baathists, became known for its grisly videos of kidnappings and attacks on U.S. forces.

Although it carries an Islamic title, the group combines Sunni Islamism with Iraqi nationalism, and has been labelled as "resistance" by Iraq's Sunni Vice president Tariq al-Hashimi (who was sentenced to death in 2012) despite al-Hashimi's close relations with the U.S. government.

Following the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq in late 2011, the IAI largely demobilized and turned towards political activism, setting up the Sunni Popular Movement. The group’s turn away from armed opposition towards activism was criticised by other militant groups, including groups that the IAI had previously allied with such as the Mujahideen Army.

In the beginning of 2014, however, the group returned to armed militancy and was active anti-government violence in Anbar and Northern Iraq during the first phases of the War in Iraq (2013-17). The group was primarily active in the Diyala and Saladin Governorates. Most of its fighters have renounced fighting against the Iraqi state, although some have joined Islamic State. Islamic Army in Iraq has not claimed any attacks since late 2014.

On the 9th of April, 2024, the group has published a video titled "Come to Jihad" (حي على الجهاد). This hour long video shows the history of activities the group was involved in and testifies that the group will come back. Furthermore, the group reannounces their opposition towards the Iranian government and ISIS. They also call for the Sunni Iraqis to join the group.

The precise details about the emergence of the IAI are unclear, although it is generally assumed that the group was established in the late summer of 2003 to fight and expel Coalition forces from Iraq. Former officers of Saddam Hussein's army from Sunni strongholds such as Ramadi, Fallujah, Tikrit and tribal areas who were skilled ex-soldiers from the disbanded Republican Guard, Fedayeen Saddam, and the Iraqi Intelligence Service formed and joined the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI).

When the IAI first formed, it used kidnapping as a means of pursuing its goals. The group also threatened to target the January 2005 elections, although it didn't carry out any such attack. Unlike most terrorist organizations today, the IAI does not have Salafist tendencies,^{[dubious – discuss]} its primary focus and goal^{[citation needed]} being the expulsion of foreign troops from Iraq. A November 2004 Washington Post interview with the group's leader, Ishmael Jubouri, stated that the IAI was predominantly composed of Iraqis (Sunnis, Shias, Kurds, and Arabs) trying to force foreign troops out of Iraq. The Terrorism Monitor put out by The Jamestown Foundation confirms some of what Jubouri was claiming. In a March 2005 article, the monitor said the group was composed primarily of Sunnis with a small Shiite congregation and, in general, was "[an] inclusive Islamic organization with Iraqi nationalist tendencies."

In a November 2006 Al Jazeera interview, spokesman Ibrahim al-Shamary expanded on who the IAI considers foreign troops, "There are two occupations in Iraq. Iran on one side through the militias which they control and through direct involvement with the national guard and the intelligence services, that causes the killing and destruction of the Sunnis. ... And then there is the American occupation which destroys the Iraqi people."