1st October Iraqi Resistance Committee statement and Impact on Iraq’s Security.

On October 1st the Iraqi Resistance Coordination Committee issued a warning to the U.S., threatening to target American bases and interests across Iraq and the region if America or its allies engage in hostile actions against Iran.

The statement, addressed to the media, shows the “red line” for the factions is the use of Iraqi airspace for attacks and that this would trigger immediate retaliation against American military and non-military infrastructure.

The Iraqi Resistance Coordination Committee represents the umbrella organisation of the resistance axis, a coalition of Shia militia groups, most of which are aligned with Iran and all of which maintain an anti-U.S. stance, particularly after the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and recent the recent actions against Ismail Haniyeh and Hassan Nasrallah.

Key factions include Kata'ib Hezbollah, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, and the Badr Organization, all of which maintain deep ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Their activities range from political influence in Iraq’s government to armed operations targeting U.S. and coalition forces, their opposition to the U.S. presence is longstanding, and they have launched multiple attacks on American personnel and facilities.

The militia's message is clear: if the U.S. or Israel takes military action against Iran, all American interests in Iraq will be targets. This could potentially include embassies, military bases such as Al Asad Airbase, and economic interests like oil companies and contractors working in the region.

For NGOs, contractors, and international organisations operating in Iraq, this warning signals an escalation in the risk environment. Organisations must immediately review their security risk management plans and contingency strategies considering this development.

In theory, using best practice, organisations should already have a contingency plan that includes triggers for evacuation, hibernation, or relocation of staff.

The “Warning Phase” should now be activated, ensuring that all are alerted to the increased threat level. This phase should mean enhanced security awareness, regularly monitoring security developments and being prepared to activate emergency protocols, such as a suspension of operations, a partial or full evacuation, or hibernation.

We are not at this stage yet, but plans MUST be in place, again and again we see planning overlooked and when the worst happens organisations sit helpless.

Regarding evacuation and relocation Planning, organisation must ensure the plans have proper preparations for possible both ground and or air extraction.

This could involve securing transport routes, confirming partnerships with private security providers and coordinating with national and international authorities to ensure safe passage for staff.

Time to update and verify your emergency contact lists, confirm access and capability of secure communication channels, and ensure that all staff understand the alert states that will trigger different evacuation responses.

Organisations should also be mindful of digital security risks. Governments, militias, and external actors may seek to monitor communications, or launch cyberattacks on NGO and Oil operations, the use of secure networks, and having backup comms in place will be vital if the situation escalates and access to the internet or phones is restricted.

For organisations already using private security, one should assess whether the services align with international standards, simply having an ISO certificate in the MENA region is not enough, in our opinion the standards are meaningless as a single way to pass judgment, we know from first hand experience how everything from training records to vehicle checklists, to certifications are falsified, standards advertised often do not match the standards in reality and corruption is rife.

The only way to be sure of your security is to verify their abilities, test them on everything from medical response to report writing, to analysis of the geo-political situation, many security companies are just copy / paste clones with no unique selling point. Ensure your team understands risk.

The medical ability of security, we cannot stress enough, do they have plans for medical evacuation, liaisons with medical facilities, are the teams capable of handling trauma situations?

These are just some basics to consider, but in conclusion we hope that recent actions, and recent evidenced lack of ability during crisis by NGO’s and Security companies is enough to spur people to check, check and check again their plans and procedures with a view to improving survivability in an incident.

These are just some basics to consider, but in conclusion we hope that recent actions, and recent evidenced lack of ability during crisis by NGO’s and Security companies is enough to spur people to check, check and check again their plans and procedures with a view to improving survivability in an incident.