Iran-Loyal Terror Leaders Running Iraq

Sheri Laizer | Exclusive to iKurd.net

Civil aviation and Iraqi airports to be brought under Badr ‘s control, rubber stamped by PM Mohammed al-Sudani

The media office of Mohammed al-Sudani, the current premier appointed in October 2022 by the Iran-backed Coordination Framework [1] issued a notice on November 28, 2023 to the effect that the management of Iraqi airports is to be removed from the control of the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA), and placed under the Ministry of Transport’s Aviation Services Company, which is to be renamed the “General Company for Airports and Air Navigation”. Another source reworded the transfer as being to the Transport Ministry’s Navigational Services Company renamed “The General Company for Airport Management and Navigational Services”. It is to take over all the ICAA assets and all obligations related to Iraq’s airports. [2] The same applies to the services of airport employees.

“The company also replaces the ICAA in executing all technical, legal, and financial commitments previously made with the authority, with attention to legal considerations from the Cabinet’s legal department.” [3]

“This transfer of authority is like putting British Aviation and British Airways under the control of the IRA,” said one international observer who chose to remain anonymous for the sake of security.

Who controls the Transportation Ministry?

Badr Organisation leader, former Badr Brigade commander, Hadi al-Ameri has long held the post of Transport Minister. [4] His past is well known and well documented. He has always been Iran’s man fighting on Iran’s side in the war against Iraq.

In May this year the Critical Threats think tank had noted that “Iraq’s 2023 draft budget nearly doubles the number of employees under the PMF from 122,000 to 238,075 employees. The PMF’s total budget would increase by about 458 million USD. The 2023 budget draft shows that the Ministry of Transportation, which is run by the Badr Organization’s Fatah party, would more than triple its budget. The Ministry of Higher Education, which is run by Asa’ib Ahl al Haq’s Sadiqoun party, would increase its budget by over 600 percent.” [5]

Higher Education Ministry under Qais al-Khazali directs universities to disengage with rights organisations

On November 30, the Minister of Higher Education and leader of the extremist Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq Iran-backed militia ordered Iraqi universities to cease engagement with several local and international NGOs. His instructions, contained in a ministry letter dated November 22, specified a number of women’s rights organisations, minority rights defenders and those defending marginalised and a media independence advocacy body, namely the following:

NGOs targeted by al-Khazali using the office of Higher Education Minister

The Amal Association – that supports victims of terrorism. [6]

The Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI). [7]

Women for Peace. [8]

UPP – a Bridge For, (in Italian Per Ponte Per,) founded in 1991 by an Italian organisation after the bombing of Iraq, it aims to prevent new conflicts, particularly in the Middle East, and runs advocacy and awareness programmes. [9]

Hivos – Giving Voice to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Iraq. [10]

The Kurdistan Independent Media Center, (IMCK) that “works to develop media and empower minorities and women in Iraq. IMCK offers training to journalists of all media, consultancy to editors and management, workshops for photographers, Internet courses for newspaper sites and Media training to politicians…” [11]

IraQueer written down on the list as Iraq Queen – that speaks for the rights of LGBT + [12]

Women Empowerment (Organisation) Erbil. That states “Together to remove #social_and_societal_obstacles that prevent the achievement of justice and equity between women and men.” [13]

UNFPA – the United Nations Population Fund – that ‘aims to improve reproductive and maternal health worldwide.

Al Khazali has additionally demanded that Iraqi universities report any “grants provided directly or indirectly by the U.S. State Department.”

Just prior to this, in yet another official communication, al-Khazali, banned civil society organisations from entering any university without prior authorisation from the Iraqi National Security Service (INSS) effectively subjecting them to intelligence surveillance and controls. His organisation also gained control of the Ministry of Scientific Research and the Labour Ministry after the last election bartering for the most lucrative and influential posts.! [14]

Qais al-Khazali and his brother, Laith, were designated Foreign Terrorists by the US State Department on December 6, 2019, and are held responsible for the deaths of civilian protestors and for numerous serious human rights abuses in Iraq. [15] Their militia, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, was designated in similar terms on January 3, 2020, in an announcement that observed:

Today, the Secretary of State announced his intent to designate Aas’ib Ahl al-Haq — also known as AAH — as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Additionally, the Secretary has designated AAH and two of its leaders, brothers Qays and Laith al-Khazali, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.

“AAH and its leaders are violent proxies of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “Acting on behalf of their masters in Tehran, they use violence and terror to further the Iranian regime’s efforts to undermine Iraqi sovereignty.” AAH is extensively funded and trained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, an entity that was part of the IRGC designation as an FTO in April 2019…

AAH, led by Qays and Laith al-Khazali, is an Iran-backed, militant organization that has claimed responsibility for more than 6,000 attacks against U.S. and Coalitions forces since its creation in 2006. AAH has carried out highly sophisticated operations, including mortar attacks on an American base, the downing of a British helicopter, and an attack on the Karbala Provincial Headquarters that resulted in the capture and murder of five American soldiers. [16]

Yet al-Khazali is running key ministries in Iraq and clamping down on NGOs and women’s rights.

In July 2023, PM Mohammed al Sudani had recently put the INSS under the control of the CF’s loyal servant, Abu Ali al-Basri in a reshuffle of senior security officials that had been holding key positions at the National Security Service and National Intelligence Service INIS under his predecessor). [17] [18]

Al Khazali accused U.S.-funded programs of aiming to undermine “the values, faith, and traditions” of Iraq’s society In homage to Velayet-e Faqih, the late Ayatollah Khomeini’s political vision of rule by Islamist clerics that he ardently reinforces through state capture. [19]

In fact, these are not the values of Iraqi society but rather those of the Islamic Republic of Iran that he and his fellow militants have long served.

Critical Threats had also noted: “In addition, Badr Organization militants likely committed a series of targeted killings of Sunni civilians in Diyala Province between February and March 2023…Hadi al Ameri successfully pressured al Sudani to remove Iraqi Special Forces from the province who had been deployed in response to the Badr-committed violence ultimately allowing the militia to gain de facto control. [20] A Badr-affiliated militia was also approved by al-Sudani to base itself in Sinjar. [21] The PM is the Coordination Framework’s rubber stamp. He secured the position through them and is amply repaying them for it.

Al Amiri’s open threats to the US

Soon after the Hamas attack on Israel of October 7, Hadi al-Amiri had declared before a gathering of tribal chiefs that the Arab leaders had not stood by the Palestinians and ”only the Islamic revolution and “resistance” factions (loyal to Iran) have staunchly supported them. The rhetoric was echoed by his fellow Iranian proxy militia leaders who also threatened the US and then attacked US bases. Ally, Hezbollah leader, Hasan Nasrallah, turned up the heat similarly in Lebanon.

Former PM Nouri al-Maliki, the original terror instructor behind the first suicide bombings against Iraqi diplomatic missions in 1983, Nouri al-Maliki, had also congratulated Hamas on the impact of its “blessed operation”.

These are the outlaws that run today’s Iraq, that have seized control over its ministries, that are responsible for the assassination and torture of critics and dissidents and hold the country’s massive budget and immediate future in their hands. [22]

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.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.

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