Ali al-Zaidi from Da’wa to peak of Iraq’s rentier system

Iraq’s New Prime Minister, Ali Faleh Kazim Al-Zaidi: From the Cradle of Al-Da’wa to the Peak of Iraq’s Rentier System

Sheri Laizer | Exclusive to iKurd.net

Ali Goes to Washington

Ali al-Zaidi recalls, “I was ten years old, and I remember my father’s group. They had faith in the Da’wa (Islamic Call) approach, and their mission was more Islamic than political …“ 1

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaid’s father was Faleh Kazim al-Zaidi. His younger son’s recollection dates back to 1996 (Ali was born in 1986) and the period when Al Da’wa, its armed wing, the Badr Brigade and SCIRI (the Al-Hakim family-led Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq) were plotting the overthrow of the secular Iraqi government.

Backed by Iran, then as now, the Shi’a militants conducted bombings of Iraqi embassies abroad, assassinations, and at home an organised rebellion against the state through the Shi’a shrine cities and ideological revolution following in the path of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Khomeini had been a former refugee in Iraq’s Najaf protected by Saddam Hussein from snatch and grab by the Shah’s Savak agents. 2 The system the first Supreme Leader put in place – known as Rule by the Jurist Cleric (Velayet-e Faqeh) was to be exported universally, implemented in Iraq and across the Shi’a crescent. Ali al-Zaidi was born into this ideology and into a conservative religious Shi’a family in Dhi Qar governorate. Details are still very sketchy.

Just as the clerics and the militia leaders turned politician amassed wealth through power and position in the nexus, so too did young Ali. The latest Prime Minister is a product of the rentier system known as Muhasasa, or power-sharing government based on quotas. The system was put in place in Iraq after the overthrow of the former secular order after the US war of 2003 and short-lived Coalition Provisional Administration (CPA) .

Ali al-Zaidi the 8th prime minister of the ‘new’ Iraq

Having passed the parliamentary blocs’ approval process on May 14, 2026, Ali al-Zaidi’s path remained paved in gold. The banker businessman magnate grown rich from state contracts has it all at his feet.

Al Janoob Islamic Bank for Investment and Finance – Ali al-Zaidi, the Banking Magnate

Ali al-Zaidi originally oversaw the management of the economic committee of the State of Law Coalition (led by Nouri al-Maliki and embarked upon his personal business expansion from it.

The economic committees are responsible for coordinating and distributing (government) contracts to companies linked to – or close to – their parties. He thus gets a cut or share of each of the (state) contracts.

Sources say “This positioning placed him within one of the largest areas of state expenditure, making his commercial activity directly intertwined with state food policy, alongside a broader shift in influence within the Ministry of Trade in favour of Shia political forces…”

“During the premiership of Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (2020–2022), this presence expanded significantly, as he became one of the main contractors in the food basket project, whose annual value is estimated at around five billion dollars…” 3

Ali al-Zaidi also operated the Al-Janoob Islamic Bank (South Bank) that was sanctioned in 2018 by the US treasury although he was not fingered. The bank was then excluded from the dollar exchange banking system in 2024. The US sanctions were based on allegations of Al Janoob’s links to Shi’a militias linked with the IRGC, namely the Imam Ali Brigades and the Hezbollah Brigades.

He was chairman of Al Janoob, one of eight Iraqi commercial banks banned from engaging in US dollar transactions since early 2024. The ban was imposed by the Central Bank of Iraq at the direction of the US Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which cited concerns over fraud, money laundering and other illegal use of US currency. The Cradle claims Ali al-Zaidi had experience also ‘serving as a financial attaché at the US Embassy in Baghdad in earlier days. 4

It was al-Janoob Bank that operated the transactions of Al Awees and the PDS system. Ali al-Zaidi retained 9,90% of the bank’s capital and with other family members controlled most of its activities. 5

Large sums are still owed to PM Ali Al-Zaidi by Iraqi state institutions, estimated at more than four trillion dinars, from Ministry of Trade contracts and supply agreements with his Al-Awees Company.

His activity is interdependent with the state and to the benefit of both sides. 6 7

His own CV claimed he provided experience in “banking management, financial governance, credit and investment policies, risk management and enhancing confidence in the banking sector”.

At the National Holding Company (according to al-Jazeera, a conglomerate established in 2017 with interests spanning agriculture, real estate, banking, logistics, and renewable energy 8,) he promoted “multisector investment” and private-sector job creation. In education, he argued that universities must be linked to labour market needs and that “education is the backbone of building a modern state”.

This is because he is also the chair of the board of Al Shaab University and the Ishtar Medical Institute.

Al Zaidi’s company, the Al Awees (al-Oways) Group for Trade General Contracting claims that it has dealt with investments of up to $500 million. It holds long-term contracts to supply staple foods to Iraq’s Public Distribution System (PDS) – the long-subsidised state ration card programme.

Not only does it supply food to millions of needy people, it also has the contract for the Iraqi Army. Al-Oways Group, worked with the Ministry of Trade, where he managed the administration of the national ration card system. Accusations of corruption are never far behind.

Al Zaidi is also the chair of the board for the Al Watania Holding Group.

He is the Owner of Taawon Hypermarket Baghdad shopping malls,

In media, he owns Dijlah TV, which is managed by his brother Professor Hassan Al-Zaidi, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Dijlah Satellite Channels Group. The channel reportedly increased programming supportive of the al-Sudani government adding a media dimension to the two men’s network of influence.

Ali al- Zaidi also owns the Sun Quick company, alongside the hypermarket network importing juices and dairy products through his companies.

In the real estate sector, Al-Zaidi reportedly owns a portfolio of projects and commercial complexes, some of which are built on state-owned land acquired through undisclosed arrangements, including a complex on the Baghdad Airport Road.

Inside circles believe Iran had supported his appointment through back channels to avoid him appearing as a candidate directly aligned with them. His alliance dates back through his father and al-Da’wa. His father died as an enemy of the Ba’athist state.

The source suggested that the four-day delay in Iran’s congratulations to al-Zaidi after his appointment was a deliberate move to deflect suspicion about his relationship with Tehran, especially given the sensitivity of the American position.9

Religious family figures in the power grid

Mrs Ibtihal Qassed Al-Zaidi

Al-Zaidi also has family ties within the intersection of religion and Shi’a-based politics, including his female cousin, a Koranic Studies scholar, Mrs Ibtihal Qassed Al-Zaidi. This religious official had previously held the post of Minister of Construction, Housing, Municipalities and Public Works (2015-2018).

She was the Minister for Women’s Affairs in 2012 under Nouri al-Maliki, and was widely criticised at the time as being a woman who did little for women. (The position had previously been led by KDP official, Hoshyar Zebari.) Ibtihal al-Zaidi sought to increase access to jobs for women from ‘martyr’ families and widows from after the 2003 invasion.10

Back in December 2011, Nouri al-Maliki’s cabinet had approved a new quota system to improve female employment in government agencies stipulating that 50 percent female should be appointed in the Health and Education ministries with a 30 percent quota for other ministries. Martyrs’ widows would be prioritized for employment in government agencies, Ibtisam herself said.

“Men and women not equal”, claimed Ibtihal al-Zaidi

In 2012, while speaking with a local news organization, Ibtihal al-Zaidi had announced, “I am against equality between men and woman…If women are equal to men they are going to lose a lot. Up to now I go with the power of the man in society. If I go out of my house, I have to tell my husband where I am going. This does not mean diluting the role of woman in society but, on the contrary, it will bring more power to the woman as a mother who looks after and brings up their children”. 11

The Organisation for Woman’s Emancipation in Iraq condemned Ibtihal Al-Zaidi’s statement and called for the dissolution of her department at that time.12

In 2013, al-Maliki downsized his cabinet, leaving al-Zaidi in place as the only woman. After al-Maliki’s term as Prime minister ended in 2015, Ibtihal al-Zaidi also left the government.

MP ,Diaa Al-Zaidi, from al-Sudani’s list is also a close family member linked to new premier, Ali al-Zaidi.

Same tribe, same bank links – Shibl denies more

Shibl al-Zaidi owho comes from the same tribe as Ali al-Zaidi is the commander cum general secretary of the Imam Ali Brigades (Kata’ib al-Imam Ali) formed in 2014 in response to Ayatollah Ali Sistani’s general mobilisation call to war against ISIS in a celebrated fatwa. Shibl had formerly been active with the al-Mahdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr. He acted as the financial coordinator between the IRGC Quds Forces and the Hashd (Popular Mobilisation Forces) according to the US Treasury sanctions. The US added that he had facilitated Iraqi investments for the late Quds forces leader, Qassem Soleimani. 13

Head of Iraq’s Services Alliance (Khadamat Alliance) Shibl al- Zaidi, formed a new block inside the Coordination Framework with Badr’s Hadi al-Ameri, in December 2025. The merger was made to gain more seats in the next cabinet aiming to secure some 30 seats, according to the Badr Organisation.15

Anonymous Iraqi sources said al-Zaidi’s appointment to the premiership was facilitated by head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zaidan, noting his close ties to outgoing Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani. Zaidan, along with al-Sudani, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) leader, Qais al-Khazali, and Hikma Movement leader Ammar al-Hakim, (once of SCIRI) formed a new front to challenge former PM, and Al Da’wa leader, Nouri al-Maliki, to impede him from taking the premiership for a third time.

Jamal al-Karbouli

Ali Al-Zaidi was seen as a financial front for Mohammed al-Sudani. He bought al-Dijlah TV channel from Jamal al-Karbouli, for around $10 million, in deals said to be linked to al-Sudani, despite the channel officially remaining under al-Zaidi’s name.

Jamal Al Karbouli was among the fifty-odd MPs and officials arrested for corruption on June 9, 2026, ordered to repay 4.5 million to the Iraqi Red Crescent Society after he had diverted funds from a Saudi grant intended to benefit a Baghdad Hospital when in position as deputy chair of the organisation.16

He confessed. Jamal al-Karbouli currently faces accusations of misappropriating $4.5 million yet continues to move about freely in Iraq maintain ties with key political players and successive prime ministers. Iraqi current affairs researcher Nadir Mohammed says al-Karbouli “is just one example of a class of influential figures that emerged and consolidated power under the political forces that have dominated Iraq since 2003…The real test of al-Zaidi’s government in its first months will be its ability to arrest and prosecute major corruption.”17

June 2026-Former and sitting MPs, officials, arrested on corruption charges

A new anti-corruption campaign saw the light of day following with the sacking of Deputy Oil Minister, Adnan al-Jumaili, accused of offering al-Zaidi a $200 million bribe. Adnan al-Jumaili was detained after judicial authorities said they found nearly $10 million in cash in his possession, along with 40 properties, gold holdings, light and medium weapons, and large sums of Iraqi currency.

On June 7, Iraq’s Integrity Court requested that parliament lift the immunity of sitting MP, Hasnain al-Khafaji on accusations of extortion and influence peddling in exchange for financial gain.

Heads began rolling thereafter with some 47 ‘big fish’ (also called ‘corruption whales’ 18 arrested on corruption charges, On June 11, 2026, Iraqi newspaper al-Mada reported that Al Zaidi’s office had launched a fresh anti-corruption drive seeking the recovery of the largest amount of stolen public funds since 2003. A list compiled by the newly established Supreme Sovereign Council for Integrity, Oversight, and the Recovery of Public Funds includes individuals suspected of involvement in major corruption cases.

Some of those accused live abroad, (and/or have property in many foreign cities) while yet others remained in charge of major investment projects in all Iraq’s most lucrative economic sectors linked with endemic graft and mafia-like insider trading.

Leaked information claimed that the value of embezzled funds ranged between $150 billion and $250 billion, with some estimates placing the figure as high as $350 billion. Part of the figure has ostensibly been used to finance armed groups and influential politicians.

Among the biggest fish is Farhan al-Fartousi, the former head of Iraq’s State ports company, sacked in early June. The newspaper estimated that funds uncovered in the case exceeded 20 trillion Iraqi dinars, or roughly $13.3 billion and part of the money was used to finance political groups, fund investments abroad, and acquire large swathes of real estate in Baghdad.

Sitting MP, Alaa al-Haidari announced on June 10 that he had submitted a formal complaint to PM Ali al-Zaidi detailing what he described as serious violations and waste of public funds inside an oil company allegedly controlled by what he called a “new oil corruption kingpin.19

Under former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the authorities had arrested Nour Zuhair, the key suspect in the so-called “Heist of the Century.” But this was just part of a much wider story of graft amounting to between $700 billion and $1 trillion lost to corruption and mismanagement since regime change empowered the Shi’a militia and Kurdish leaders 2003. Zuhair had been the advisor to the former chair of the Parliamentary Finance Committee and held positions in Iraqi ports.

Next, under PM, Mohamed al-Sudani, MP Haitham al-Jubouri was also detained in connection with the Heist case. 20 Nour Zuhair was later released on bail, raising widespread doubts about the seriousness of the Sudani government’s actions.

Al-Jibouri had been an advisor to al-Sudani’s predecessor, PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi. A General Amnesty law was announced in response to recuperation of diverted funds in March 2025 under which both would be pardoned. “Following its ratification by (Kurdish) Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, the law was published in the Iraqi Official Gazette on February 18, officially launching into effect its implementation. “21

According to political researcher, Salah al-Kubaisi, corruption in Iraq is a termite. 22 and not merely a failure in governance but “a structural feature of the political order itself, embedded in both the state and the system that governs it. Any claim of eliminating this type of corruption without fundamentally changing the structure of the political system and the way it operates is little more than a myth being sold to the public.” 23

Shibl al-Zaidi, head of Iraq’s Services (Khadamat) Alliance and the Kataib al-Imam Ali militia, said on Tuesday that Iraq remains trapped in a “cycle of violence and corruption,” blaming the political quota system and unchecked weapons for hindering state-building and weakening state institutions – Statement “There are parties that exploited public support and the sacrifices made by the resistance,” Zaidi said, adding that some groups carried out actions “contrary to religion and the law”24

Yet, the US Treasury in imposing sanctions on him and his group also accused the Imam al-Ali Brigades of war crimes including summary executions, torture, and theft. During the Siege of Amerli in 2014 they were shown brandishing heads severed from the bodies of enemy fighters. In video recorded, Shibl himself declared, “We’re coming to look for you. We will cut off your heads and make a mountain of your skulls.25

Other atrocity videos followed. 26 Now between 80 to 90 deputies in the Iraqi parliament are directly linked with militias. Controlling a third of the cabinet they enjoy the power of veto. Ali al-Zaidi was their chosen candidate to perpetuate the system of interdependence. He was born to it.

POSTSCRIPT
IRAQI OFFICIALS ARRESTED ON CORRUPTION CHARGES

The INA and other outlets published lists 27 as follow below. I have added in the details of their parties or positions. 28

Based on confessions made by the Deputy Minister of Oil, Adnan al-Jumaili, the following prominent officials were arrested by the Prime Minister’s elite Counter Terrorism (CTS) security forces in Operation Dawn raids on the Green Zone:

– Muthanna al-Samarrai, MP, head of the Azm Alliance

– Ziyad al-Janabi, MP, Siyada Coalition, Chairman of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee.

– Bahaa al-Nouri, MP, al-Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development Coalition

– Mohammed al-Karbouli, MP, Azm Alliance

– Ms. Alia Nassif, MP, al-Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development Coalition, Vice-Chair of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee.

– Mohammed Jamil al-Mayahi, MP, former Wasit governor

– Hassanein al-Khafaji, MP, al-Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development Coalition

– Abdul Rahman al-Luwaizi, MP, al-Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development Coalition

– Mudhar al-Karawi, MP, Siyada Coalition

– Ms. Hind al-Abbasi, MP

– Mohammed Farman al-Jubouri, MP, Azm Alliance.

– Ms. Bushra al-Qaisi, Sunni MP

– Mohammed al-Sayhoud, former MP, a relative of al-Sudani and former politician.

– Ali Maarij al-Bahady, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil for Distribution Affairs (also under US sanctions, accused of mixing Iraqi oil with Iranian oil to bypass US sanctions).

– Ibrahim Al-Sumaida’I, former government advisor to al-Sudani

Sheri Laizer, a Middle East and North African expert specialist and well known commentator on the Kurdish issue. She is a senior contributing writer for iKurd.net. More about Sheri Laizer see below.

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