News Desk, The Cradle.
The arrests come ahead of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s visit to Washington next month.
And as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made a surprise visit to Baghdad on Sunday.
Iraqi security forces deployed in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone at dawn on 28 June, using heavy vehicles and tanks to carry out a series of raids targeting “several politicians” accused of corruption.
The Green Zone is a highly secure area in Baghdad established after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. It is home to the sprawling US embassy and key Iraqi government offices, including the parliament. Top Iraqi officials and politicians also live within the zone.
An Iraqi security official told AFP that a “raid targeted several politicians over financial corruption, per judicial orders.”
According to Kurdish news outlet Rudaw, Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service, the Iraqi Army, the Integrity Commission, and other security forces participated in the operation, which included targets in several areas in Baghdad and other governorates in addition to the Green Zone.
Abdul Rahman al-Jazaeri, a leader in the Iraqi Ministry of Defense’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), told Rudaw that “the campaign to arrest big figures will continue until the visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to the United States.”
Zaidi, who was named Prime Minister in late April with the approval of US President Donald Trump, is scheduled to visit Washington on 17 July.
Amid Iraqi efforts to select a new prime minister following parliamentary elections last November, Trump used threats to veto the candidacy of former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is viewed as close to Iran.
Trump has also pushed Zaidi to disarm Shia resistance groups allegedly enjoying support from Tehran.
While some groups have agreed to turn over weapons to the state, others, including Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, have refused. Many Shia resistance groups are also members of the PMU, which was formed in 2014 to fight ISIS.
PMU leader Jazaeri, who is close to Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition, added that “Several more campaigns are planned for tonight in Baghdad and other provinces” to arrest additional officials. The names of 64 politicians were reportedly distributed to Iraq’s airports to prevent them from fleeing the country.
Jazaeri warned that “a number of leaders of armed factions are slated for arrest. They must surrender themselves to the judiciary, otherwise they will be arrested and brought to justice.”
Among those reportedly arrested on corruption charges are Deputy Oil Minister for Refining Affairs Adnan Hamad Hamoud; Muthanna al-Samarrai, a prominent Sunni politician who heads the Azm Alliance; Alia Nassif, a member of parliament from the Reconstruction and Development Alliance; several additional members of parliament, and two advisors to former Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
Alia Nassif is herself known as an anti-corruption activist in parliament.
A senior official told Iraq’s new agency (INA) that “several suspects accused of corruption have been arrested based on confessions made” by oil ministry official Adnan al-Jumaili, who was detained last month.
The raids come amid a surprise visit to Baghdad by Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, on Sunday. The visit was announced by Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei on Saturday night.
Baghaei stated that “Araghchi will discuss and consult with senior Iraqi officials about bilateral relations and regional and international developments” during the visit. It is unclear if his visit is linked to the anti-corruption raids.
While in Baghdad, Araghchi will review arrangements for funeral ceremonies for the Islamic Republic’s slain Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which will be held in various Iraqi cities.
Khamenei was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the unprovoked US-Israeli war on Iran that began on 28 February. Multiple high-ranking military commanders and many civilians were killed in strikes across the country the same day.
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