Iraqi PM sacks provincial security chiefs and refers suspects to court in oil smuggling crackdown

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi has ordered all suspects in a major oil-smuggling case to be referred to court and dismissed nine senior security and administrative officials, in the most significant escalation yet in his confrontation with Iran-backed militias.

The order followed an emergency security meeting late on Saturday to review the findings of a committee set up to investigate the Jurf Al Sakhar case, which began with a leaked intelligence report this week.

The committee, which visited the area controlled by the influential Kataib Hezbollah militia, confirmed the findings of a report by the Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency on oil smuggling operations and the existence of refineries, the government said.

Mr Al Zaidi ordered that “all suspects involved in oil smuggling operations" be referred to the judiciary and that legal action be taken against them” it added. The statement did not mention Kataib Hezbollah or say how many people were involved.

The Prime Minister also ordered the dismissal of eight security officials and an oil official. The most senior of those sacked were the police chief of Babil province, other senior security officials in the province and the director general of the state-run Oil Pipelines Company.

The crackdown follows days of mounting controversy after the agency leaked a report alleging organised oil theft in the area dating back to 2021.

Based on satellite imagery from 2021 to 2026, the report documented illegal extraction near pipelines passing through Jurf Al Sakhar. It identified four sites where large tankers, each with a capacity of 36,000 litres, repeatedly appeared. The sites were under the control and protection of "an armed faction", it said.

Jurf Al Sakhar, also known as Jurf Al Nasr, lies about 60km south-west of Baghdad in an area administratively annexed to Babil province. It was retaken from ISIS in 2014 and has since remained largely closed to its displaced Sunni residents. It is controlled by Kataib Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned faction that has brigades in the Popular Mobilisation Forces and is designated a terrorist organisation by the US.

Mr Al Zaidi first ordered an investigation on Wednesday. The initial committee was unable to inspect the sites named in the allegations, prompting the formation of a second, expanded high-level committee on Thursday. On Friday, a large military force escorting the committee reached the entrance to Jurf Al Sakhar in its first field deployment and waited for reinforcements before entering.

Show caption: Members of Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah militia. Reuters

The smuggling probe has landed in the middle of Mr Al Zaidi's broader effort to bring armed factions under state control, an initiative that has faced mounting resistance from Iran-backed militias.

The initial plan was to begin bringing their weapons under state control by September 30, when the US-led anti-ISIS coalition left Iraq. That timetable has been pushed back, with the process not expected to begin before June 30, 2027.

Only three armed groups – Asaib Ahl Al Haq, Kataib Imam Ali and Saraya Al Salam – claim to have placed their weapons under state authority. Hardline factions, chiefly Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba, say they will not disarm and are publicly challenging the government.

A separate inquiry has also been opened into alleged crude oil smuggling from Kirkuk and the Kurdistan Region through Iran to Afghanistan.