ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Erbil-based Korek Telecom on Wednesday accused Iraq’s telecommunications regulator of using “baseless pretexts” to cancel its settlement agreement and suspend its operations, arguing that the entity had exceeded its authority by dismantling a deal backed by the Iraqi prime minister’s office.
“Day after day, the Communications and Media Commission [CMC] proves its lack of neutrality and its prejudice against Korek Telecom,” the company said in a statement, adding that its measures against it were “arbitrary” and aim to “remove it from the market.”
Korek also accused the Iraqi regulator of “exceeding the limits of their authority,” saying that the settlement agreement that was suspended was “one of the outcomes of a high-level committee” formed following a decree issued by the Iraqi premier’s office in May 2025.
The CMC, which operates in coordination with Iraq’s legislature, announced on Tuesday a decision to “cancel the settlement agreement concluded with Korek Telecom,” adding that it will “take all necessary legal, regulatory, and technical procedures to implement the decision” and “ensure the protection of state rights, preservation of public funds and recovery of debts.”
Korek “bears full legal and financial responsibility for its failure to implement the settlement agreement and any resulting consequences,” the CMC noted.
Millions of Korek subscribers across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have been unable to make or receive calls, or send and receive messages from both domestic and international carriers for several years. The disruption began with a November 2023 decision by the CMC to block Korek’s services over unpaid financial obligations.
A month earlier, the Iraqi telecommunications authority had warned Korek that its operating license had expired and that it had failed to pay “large sums” owed to the state, meaning the license would not be renewed.
In mid-February 2025, the CMC cut off the company’s internet services, citing non-compliance with debt repayments and continued violations. A month before, Zahra al-Bajari, head of parliament’s transport and communications committee at the time, said Korek Telecom owes Iraq’s CMC a total of two trillion dinars (around $1.5 billion) in licensing fees and outstanding debts.
Korek CEO Sirwan Barzani previously told Rudaw that the measures were politically motivated and “illegal,” while expressing willingness to resolve the issues in accordance with the law.
Mazen Sirwan Barzani, a senior Korek executive, told Rudaw in late May that the CMC has to facilitate $1.7 billion in compensation for the company per a “decision by a Kurdistan Region court.”
Notably, the latest action against Korek coincides with efforts by Iraqi Communications Minister Mustafa Sanad to establish a new mobile network provider in Iraq, with a plan set to be presented to parliament within three months.
Sanad recently told the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) that “the idea is to create a state-owned national carrier to compete with companies such as AsiaCell, Zain, and Korek, [which are active in Iraq and] some of which are linked to Arab countries,” arguing that Iraq lacks full sovereignty over its telecommunications sector.
