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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq's sweeping anti-corruption campaign has targeted dozens of senior officials, but analysts and politicians remain divided over whether the crackdown will ultimately reach the country's most powerful figures, with some arguing the operation has been driven in part by US pressure and financial oversight. A Rudaw analyst said the Federal Bureau of Investigation could be behind the raids.
At least 47 senior Iraqi officials and lawmakers have been arrested in a wide-ranging anti-corruption operation that began in the early hours of Sunday, with the investigation centered on the former deputy oil minister for refining affairs, Adnan al-Jumaili. Iraq's Commission of Integrity said Sunday the campaign had led to the detention of a deputy oil minister, 12 members of parliament, and other senior officials.
The Sunday raids are believed to be connected to the ongoing investigation into Jumaili whose arrest last month has snowballed into one of Iraq's largest corruption probes in years. Kurdish lawmaker Sherwan Dubardani had previously told Rudaw that Jumaili named dozens of individuals allegedly involved in the scheme during his interrogation.
Speaking at Rudaw’s flagship program Lagal Ranj (“With Ranj” in Kurdish) aired late Sunday, Nahro Mohammed, an editor at Rudaw's Iraq desk, said the current operation is only one part of a much broader campaign.
"Approximately 128 people are wanted in this specific case, while 952 individuals are wanted across Iraq," he said, adding that corruption files are ready for most Iraqi officials; it is simply a matter of the time and place for their execution not yet being determined," he said.
Mohammed argued that Iraq's most influential political figures have yet to be targeted.
"Two weeks ago, Iraq entered into a money-laundering prevention project with the US; the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] is behind this,” he said, citing Iraqi sources. “This is intended to resolve Iraq's financial issues, as most Iraqi officials are implicated in corruption," he added.
US authorities have not commented on the raids.
From Washington, Rudaw bureau chief Diyar Kurda said US authorities had shared financial intelligence with Baghdad but were not directly involved in carrying out the arrests.
"The US was not directly involved in the operation, but the US Treasury provided full information to Iraq to take serious steps," Kurda said.
"There are some extremely high-ranking officials, even within Zaidi's own government, whom he must confront," he added.
Kurda said there was "significant pressure on the Iraqi government to fulfill these demands to bring transparency to its peak and leave no more room for corruption."
Former Iraqi deputy finance minister Fazil Nabi said during the program that Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's anti-corruption efforts were linked to prior understandings with Washington.
"A month before Ali Zaidi was asked to be nominated for prime minister, the US reached an agreement with him that he must implement certain steps. One of those steps was tackling corruption. Therefore, Ali Zaidi has backing from the US," Nabi said.
He described the strategy behind the arrests, saying investigators deliberately avoided starting with senior leaders.
"They worked smartly. If they had started from the top down, they wouldn't have succeeded, so they did the opposite," he said.
Nabi added that US authorities possessed extensive intelligence on corruption networks.
"The Americans would visit me; their information was much more precise than mine. They knew every detail, including names and locations," he said.
According to Nabi, "90 percent of the power in Iraq is infected with corruption. Corruption is a massive industry."
He also alleged major financial losses in Iraq's oil sector.
"One million barrels of oil are provided to refineries daily, and none of that money enters the state treasury. If that money were returned to the treasury, it would amount to $1.5 billion monthly and $18 to $22 billion annually," he said.
Ali Hama Saleh, lawmaker and leader of the National Stance Movement (Halwest), described corruption as a deeply rooted network.
"This is a massive network involving many people. All implicated officials are terrified; they have turned off their phones and changed their locations," he said.
Saleh claimed bribery was widespread across Iraqi ministries.
"In some places, they have told people, 'Go buy us 10 Rolex watches,'" he said.
He also said Kurdish officials were implicated in corruption cases.
"There are Kurdish officials involved. It may not necessarily be through this specific file, but rather within their own ministries. Kurds, Sunnis, and high-profile people are all included; powerful figures are behind this corruption," Saleh said.
Claiming to possess additional evidence, Saleh added, "I keep 395 files that are 25 times larger than today's case in the Kurdistan Region, but in the Region, no one is arrested for it."
He further claimed, "I have a file showing that $300 billion has been taken out of Iraq. I have evidence of where it has been taken; it covers up to 2015, consists of 300 pages, and includes all the banks involved. If this case continues, Iraq will enter a new phase."
Ahmed Anwar, head of the Kurdistan Region's Commission of Integrity, told the program that authorities in Erbil had cooperated with Iraqi investigators regarding Jumaili's assets.
"They did not coordinate with us. However, in the past two weeks, we had three communications with the head of the [Federal] Integrity Commission and his two deputies. There was some information regarding the properties of Adnan al-Jumaili in the Kurdistan Region; we assisted them and are ready to continue helping," he said.
Commenting on corruption, Anwar remarked, "In Baghdad, if you just say 'hello,' you have to at least give them a [prepaid] phone card. Though it is less prevalent in the Kurdistan Region."
Sherwan Dubardani, a Kurdish lawmaker in Baghdad, said the investigation extends beyond the Jumaili case.
"It is not just the Adnan al-Jumaili case; there are several files and they are very broad, involving oil, gas, and even some people close to [former Prime Minister] Mohammed Shia al-Sudani," he told Rudaw.
"The Ministries of Defense, Interior, and Industry have massive corruption files," he added.
Dubardani also pointed to what he described as inflated government contracts.
"A few days ago, a contract for 800 cars worth over 862 billion dinars [$657 million] - where they contracted each car for $300,000 - was exposed," he said.
Warning that the investigations could reach much further, he added, "If the investigations continue, no one will be left to govern Iraq because they will all turn out to be corrupt."
Finance Committee member Jamal Kochar said the operation aims to dismantle corruption networks rather than prosecute isolated individuals.
"Zaidi wants to find the corruption networks, not just the individuals," Kochar said.
He argued that recovering stolen funds was essential to protecting future state finances.
"If this work hadn't been done now - given that lawmakers have spent billions of dollars - it would have been drawn from the 2027 budget and the state would have collapsed," he said.
"If this campaign continues, a full budget's worth of money will be recovered from these officials. The budgets for 2027, 2028, and 2029 were in danger," he added.
Former Finance Committee member Sami Atrushi, however, expressed skepticism that Iraq's most powerful political figures would ultimately be held accountable.
"The 'big fish' will not be exposed; eventually, each of them will be silenced. They will just be told to bring the money back, and that is not a real solution," he said.
