ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Tuesday announced that the country’s intelligence agency has arrested a group of “speculators” in Erbil for playing with the value of the US dollar. The operation was conducted in coordination with Kurdish forces. “In recent days, the National Intelligence Service carried out a heroic operation the details of which will be announced later tonight. The operation resulted in the arrest of a network of speculators - the big ones, not small ones,” Sudani told reporters in Baghdad. “These people wake up in the morning and specify a value for dollar. What do the small [speculators] do? They gather [dollars] and bring it to the big ones who give them to other big speculators in the Kurdistan Region and the smuggling begins,” he added. He thanked the Kurdish security forces in Erbil for helping them arrest the group. Kurdistan Region’s security forces have not confirmed their involvement in the operation. Sudani also said that they have been monitoring the activities of the group for a long time. The Iraqi premier noted that one of the members of the network was arrested in 2001 on the same charges but was released two years later. “Inshallah he will not be released again,” he stressed. The Iraqi national agency later said in a video statement that it had carried out a “wide operation” against dollar smugglers in the country which resulted in the arrest of a network which is accused of “conducting suspicious financial and banking activities.” The agency added that it had arrested 11 suspects in Baghdad and 12 others in Basra, Diyala and Muthana provinces without mentioning Erbil. The security forces confiscated $14 million and five billion dinars ($3.3 million) during anti-smuggling operations in the country, noted the agency. “The accused carried out suspicious financial activities under the name of trade companies.” The US recently banned transactions with 14 Iraqi banks for allegedly violating its rules. The move further devalued the Iraqi currency. Iraq has struggled to prevent the flow of dollars to outside the country. The currency is believed to be smuggled into neighbouring Iran. US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Thursday that the banning of the Iraqi banks “help limit the ability of bad actors sticking to launder US dollars, profit from the exploitation of money owned by the Iraqi people and evade US sanctions.” "Corruption poses a challenge for Iraq's banking sector," he added. Updated at 11:30 pm
