{"id":16355,"date":"2026-11-15T02:14:22","date_gmt":"2026-11-15T02:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=16355"},"modified":"2026-11-15T02:14:22","modified_gmt":"2026-11-15T02:14:22","slug":"iraq-pm-sacks-nine-officials-over-oil-smuggling-in-pro-iran-stronghold-oil-and-gas-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=16355","title":{"rendered":"Iraq PM sacks nine officials over oil smuggling in pro-Iran stronghold | Oil and Gas News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dismissals follow probe that uncovered illegal oil refineries and smuggling in a region run by Kataib Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian armed group.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published On 15 Nov 2026<\/span>15 Nov 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Iraq\u2019s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has dismissed nine senior security officials over an alleged oil smuggling operation in the Jurf al-Nasr area, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group.<\/p>\n

Al-Zaidi chaired an emergency security meeting to review the findings of a committee investigating smuggling in Jurf al-Nasr, Babil province, military spokesperson Sabah al-Numan told the Iraqi News Agency (INA).<\/p>\n

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The move follows an investigation that uncovered illegal oil refineries and evidence of manipulation linked to the smuggling activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of the investigation\u2019s findings, [the prime minister] ordered that all individuals accused of involvement in oil smuggling operations be referred to the judiciary,\u201d al-Numan said.<\/p>\n

The prime minister \u201calso ordered the dismissal\u201d of nine officials, including security and intelligence officers in Babil province, an Interior Ministry commander, and the director of the Oil Pipelines Company at the Ministry of Oil, he said.<\/p>\n

The police chief of Babil province was among those dismissed.<\/p>\n

Iran-aligned armed group<\/h2>\n

Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-aligned paramilitary group and one of Iraq\u2019s most heavily armed factions, has recently issued several sharp statements against the prime minister, threatening his government and accusing him of corruption.<\/p>\n

Senior Iraqi politicians previously told the AFP news agency that al-Zaidi had repeatedly said he was ready to confront groups refusing to disarm.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera\u2019s Peter Smith, reporting from Baghdad, said previous Iraqi governments had been careful not to address the issue of an alleged oil smuggling network worth up to $30m monthly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis area had effectively been run as a state within a state until now,\u201d Smith said. \u201cBut that seems to have changed, with Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi saying that no inch of Iraq will be allowed to have oil smuggling operations like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two strategic oil pipelines running through the south of the country, just south of Baghdad, \u201chad effectively been tapped into\u201d, Smith said, citing a leaked intelligence report. \u201cOil was being siphoned off, stolen, and then sold on the black market in an operation worth tens of millions of dollars every month.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the INA reported that \u201cintelligence documents\u201d containing satellite images \u201cshowed crude oil and oil-derivatives smuggling operations carried out by an armed faction\u201d in Jurf al-Nasr, accusing an unnamed group of tapping into a pipeline there.<\/p>\n

Al-Numan said the investigating committee \u201cconfirmed the accuracy\u201d of the information.<\/p>\n

Akeel Abbas, a senior non-resident fellow at the Iraq Initiative within the Atlantic Council, told Al Jazeera that oil smuggling by various political factions and armed groups \u201cis common in Iraq\u201d due to \u201ccommercial rather than political or strategic\u201d gains.<\/p>\n

Abbas said the latest crackdown has more to do with \u201cmilitia disarmament\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prime minister cleverly decided to frame it as anticorruption. That is why a few days ago, there was a report leaked by the government about this operation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The prime minister wants to \u201ccut off the financial lifeline to this particular group that has been so resistant\u201d to the government\u2019s \u201cmilitia disarmament\u201d initiatives, he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Dismissals follow probe that uncovered illegal oil refineries and smuggling in a region run by Kataib Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian armed group. Published On 15 Nov 202615 Nov 2026 Iraq\u2019s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has dismissed nine senior security officials over an alleged oil smuggling operation in the Jurf al-Nasr area, a stronghold of the Iran-backed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t