Following the revelation of new details in the case of Iran’s oil smuggling, the Iraqi prime minister ordered the formation of a special committee. This order came after the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned a wide network of violators.
The purpose of this committee is to investigate suspicions of corruption in oil and petroleum product smuggling. This network had been selling Iranian regime oil on the market by falsifying its origin as Iraqi oil.
This move is considered an effort to protect Iraq’s national economy and public assets. The wide-ranging diplomatic activity in Baghdad highlights the importance of this matter for the Iraqi government.
On September 6, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered the formation of this high-level committee. It consists of relevant institutions and is tasked with reviewing information and reports related to corruption and suspicious operations in Iraq’s ports and territorial waters.
In an official statement, al-Sudani stressed that there would be no leniency in this case. He added that the committee must submit the necessary recommendations for legal action to the cabinet after completing its investigations.
According to the Iraqi prime minister, the ultimate goal of this measure is to protect national assets and combat corruption.
These measures follow accusations by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration that the Iranian regime has been evading sanctions through oil smuggling and the use of Iraqi ports. The Iraqi government is trying to prevent the U.S. from imposing sanctions on its oil sector.
Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) on September 2 denied any oil smuggling or crude oil mixing operations in the country’s ports and territorial waters.
This denial came only hours after Washington announced sanctions on a network of companies and oil tankers. The network was run by an Iraqi trader named Walid al-Samarrai.
According to the U.S. government, al-Samarrai smuggled Iranian regime oil onto the global market by falsifying documents to present it as Iraqi oil. These allegations highlight the complexity and scale of the oil smuggling operation.
Earlier, in July, the U.S. had sanctioned another network led by an Iraqi trader, which was accused of smuggling oil worth billions of dollars.
They carried out this scheme by disguising or mixing Iranian regime oil with Iraqi oil.
Smuggling concealment methods and ties with the “shadow fleet”
These tankers used various methods to conceal their illegal activities, including nighttime transfers and falsifying the Automatic Identification System (AIS).
The U.S. Sanctions Iranian Oil Transport, Purchase, And Processing Network
These tankers also hid their operations by deliberately creating gaps in their location reports. The U.S. Treasury Department announced that the ships in this network carried out ship-to-ship transfers with tankers from the Iranian regime’s sanctioned “shadow fleet.” These exchanges were meant to obscure direct ties to Iran’s oil sector.
On August 8, SOMO’s CEO Ali Nizar also denied any operations of mixing Iranian oil with other countries’ oil. He dismissed the allegations as baseless and stressed that no oil smuggling takes place in Iraqi ports.
Ali Nizar, without directly naming the Iranian regime, described the claims regarding oil smuggling and mixing with oil from neighboring countries as groundless.
He stressed that no oil mixing or smuggling takes place in Iraq’s ports and territorial waters. According to the U.S. Treasury Department in July, companies linked to “Salim Ahmed Said” had been buying and transporting Iranian regime oil since at least 2020.
These companies, operating under the cover of legitimate Iraqi trade, either mixed the oil with Iraqi oil or disguised it as Iraqi crude. The value of these transactions amounted to billions of dollars.
Nizar further emphasized that no international institution has provided evidence to substantiate these claims. He described the concerns as “baseless and lacking scientific backing.”
Explaining the documents published in this regard, he said that they related to “financing operations.” He added that the documents do not concern oil tankers entering Iraqi ports to load fuel oil or petroleum products and mixing it with imported crude.
