Iraqi PM dismisses nine officials over oil smuggling in Kataib Hezbollah stronghold

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has dismissed nine senior officials over an alleged oil smuggling operation in Jurf al-Nasr, in Babil province south of Baghdad. The area is a stronghold of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group. The decision follows an investigation that uncovered illegal oil refineries, and it marks an attempt by the government to act in a territory that previous administrations had avoided addressing.

Military spokesperson Sabah al-Numan told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the prime minister chaired an emergency security meeting to review the findings of the investigating committee. He ordered everyone accused of involvement in the smuggling to be referred to the judiciary.

Those dismissed include security and intelligence officers in Babil province, an Interior Ministry commander and the director of the Oil Pipelines Company at the Ministry of Oil. The Babil police chief was also removed.

Scale of the smuggling

Al Jazeera's Peter Smith, reporting from Baghdad, said earlier Iraqi governments had been careful not to confront the alleged smuggling network, reportedly worth up to $30m a month. Citing a leaked intelligence report, he said two strategic oil pipelines south of Baghdad had effectively been tapped, with oil siphoned off and sold on the black market. On Wednesday, INA reported that intelligence documents with satellite images showed crude oil and oil-derivative smuggling by an armed faction. Al-Numan said the committee confirmed the information was accurate.

Political context

Kataib Hezbollah is one of Iraq's most heavily armed factions. It has recently issued several sharp statements against the prime minister, threatening his government and accusing him of corruption. Senior Iraqi politicians previously told AFP that al-Zaidi had repeatedly said he was ready to confront groups refusing to disarm.

Akeel Abbas, a senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Iraq Initiative, said oil smuggling by political factions and armed groups is common in Iraq because the gains are commercial rather than political. In his view, the current crackdown is more about militia disarmament, and the prime minister chose to frame it as anticorruption. The aim, he said, is to cut the financial lifeline of a group that has resisted the government's disarmament efforts.