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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - ِA Baghdad court on Wednesday overturned an injunction that had blocked Iraq's telecommunications regulator, the Communications and Media Commission (CMC), from suspending the operations of Erbil-based Korek Telecom - reversing a Sunday ruling that had temporarily shielded the company from regulatory action.
In a Facebook post, the CMC shared a ruling issued Monday by Baghdad's Rusafa Court of First Instance reversing a temporary stay order Korek had secured days prior that had halted the Commission's measures against the company pending trial.
The ruling upheld the Commission's decision to suspend Korek's operations, with the CMC affirming commitment to "the rulings of competent courts" and to "pursuing legal and judicial channels in all proceedings related to the Korek Telecom case, in a manner that preserves the rights of the state, the public interest, and the rights of users."
The court document, as examined by Rudaw, outlines a lawsuit between CMC head Baligh Abu Kalal and Korek Telecom's managing director, without naming the latter. The Rusafa Court found that Korek's petition lacked "procedural and legal grounds" and dismissed the company's request for injunctive relief.
Disruptions to Korek's services began in late 2023, when the Commission launched enforcement actions over unpaid financial obligations, cutting the company's internet services outside the Kurdistan Region and blocking interconnected calls with competing networks across Iraq.
The dispute escalated in early June, when the CMC issued a letter revoking a September 2025 settlement agreement with Korek and announced the expiration of the company's operating license over alleged breaches of contractual obligations and financial commitments.
The latest judicial developments come as the CMC had on Thursday closed "a number of Korek Telecom's branches in Baghdad" - including sales centers in the Arasat, Mansour, and Palestine Street districts, as well as its main headquarters in the Jadriyah district.
The closures "fall within the framework of implementing the decisions and regulatory measures taken against the company," pertaining to the suspension of its operations, the Commission said in a statement.
A day earlier, the CMC had issued a circular urging Korek subscribers to register alternative numbers to ensure continued access to their accounts and digital services.
Korek board chairman Sirwan Barzani on Thursday denounced the CMC's measures as "illegal" and "implemented outside of regulatory frameworks," saying the company had "taken legal measures in three Iraqi courts."
Earlier in August, Korek had also accused the CMC of taking "successive arbitrary measures motivated by the political movement to which its management belongs," appealing directly to Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to intervene.
Despite this, Abu Kalal told Rudaw on Saturday that Korek was "non-compliant with the Commission's decisions" and that "the two sides have reached a dead end."
He added that the matter is "purely technical," noting Korek owes the Commission more than two trillion dinars (about $1.5 billion) and carries external debts exceeding one billion dollars.
“So far there is no solution with Korek," Abu Kalal said.
