Kurdistan 24 TV channel reported that Salem Ahmed Saeed, an Iraqi trader accused of smuggling oil for Iran’s regime, has dealt a “serious blow” to Iraq’s national systems.
The channel, referring to Saeed’s case which was recently sanctioned by the U.S., said that this development has forced the Iraqi government to conduct a “review and transparent, forceful investigations.”
According to the report, Iraq’s Integrity Committee discovered that contracts exist between Salem Ahmed’s company and VS Oil Terminal.
The role of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) in transporting oil tankers, as well as the actual revenues of these contracts compared to the officially announced figures, has also been called into question.
Border Residents of Sistan and Baluchestan Prevent IRGC Fuel Smuggling
On September 2, SOMO issued a statement denying any smuggling or mixing of crude oil or petroleum products in Iraqi ports or territorial waters.
Kurdistan 24 stressed that the business case recently sanctioned by the U.S. is a “full reflection of political corruption and mismanagement” in Iraq’s oil sector since 2003.
On July 3, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on networks that transported and purchased billions of dollars worth of Iranian regime oil, with part of the proceeds benefiting the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Among these entities was a network of companies managed by Ahmed Saeed, which profited from smuggling Iranian oil by disguising or mixing it with Iraqi oil.
A month later, on September 2, the department also sanctioned Waleed Khalid Hamid al-Samarrai, a UAE-based trader, along with seven companies and nine oil tankers, for their role in smuggling Iranian oil and evading sanctions against the regime.
At the time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this action was based on the sanctions related to Saeed’s network.
Iraq’s reaction to oil smuggling for Iran’s regime
On September 22, Zafer Hosseini, Director General of Iraq’s Energy Police, announced in a statement that 49 people had been arrested on charges of oil smuggling in the country.
A New Oil Smuggling Scandal Involving Iranian Regime Leaders
He said that in just the past three weeks, 38 tankers and vehicles of various sizes prepared for smuggling oil from all Iraqi provinces except those in the Kurdistan Region were seized.
About two weeks ago, following the revelation of new details about Iranian oil smuggling disguised as Iraqi-origin oil and the extensive U.S. sanctions on a wide network involved in this process, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered the formation of a high-level committee to investigate suspicions of corruption in the mixing and smuggling of crude oil and petroleum products.
On September 6, al-Sudani’s office announced a thorough review of reports related to “corruption and suspicious operations” in Iraq’s ports and territorial waters, warning that there will be no leniency in this case.
