ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Baghdad criminal court has issued an arrest warrant against a US-sanctioned, Iraqi-British businessman for “illicit operations” in oil sales, according to the court order made public on Sunday, ten days after a separate order issued by the court to confiscate his properties in Iraq.
Omed Haji Ahmed, whose British passport lists his name as Salim Ahmed Said, is accused of “acquiring and possessing funds resulting from the establishment of multiple oil companies” and utilizing them in “illicit operations to import, export, and ship oil products,” according to a court order signed on Thursday and shared by state-owned Iraqi News Agency (INA).
Said was designated by the US Treasury Department in July 2025 for disguising Iranian oil as Iraqi oil through fraudulent documentation and ship-to-ship transfers.
“Said’s companies have been selling Iranian oil falsely declared as Iraqi since at least 2020,” the Treasury said at the time, adding that he enabled the “legitimate” sale of Iranian oil supplies through Iraq or the United Arab Emirates and thus helping Tehran to “evade international sanctions” and finance the external arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.
The department further accused Said of bribing “many members of key Iraqi government bodies, including parliament,” saying he paid millions of dollars in kickbacks in exchange for forged vouchers certifying the oil’s origin as Iraqi.
The designation had coincided with the restoration of the maximum pressure policy against Iran by the US in February of that year. A waiver allowing Iraq to import electricity from the neighboring Iraq was subsequently rescinded.
The Iraqi court order explained that Said’s business operations have been incompatible with “maritime regulation requirements” and violated provisions of Iraqi anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing laws.
“You are instructed to bring him immediately to our court as he is accused in the complaint filed against him at al-Karkh Second Investigation Court,” the order noted.
Earlier this month, the investigation court shared an order to “seize the movable and immovable assets” of Said, describing him as a “fugitive.”
The arrest warrant comes as the Iraqi government, under Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, has launched an anti-corruption drive, dubbed Operation Dawn, since June 28. In coordination with the Federal Commission of Integrity, security forces and judicial bodies have since conducted dozens of raids across Baghdad and other provinces, arresting more than 200 government officials and employees.
Last month, a former Iraqi oil official and a former lawmaker were each sentenced to seven years in prison over illicit enrichment, in addition to court orders to repay millions of dollars in illicit gains and subsequent fines equivalent to the amounts involved.
