The latest:
An Iran-backed armed faction has turned on Iraq’s government in public, with Kataib Hezbollah’s security chief Abu Mujahid al-Assaf accusing Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and a close aide of accumulating roughly 21 trillion dinars, more than $13 billion, in illicit wealth. The statement, published on Telegram and reported by Rudaw, came the same weekend the premier ordered the cancellation of Mosul airport contracts.
Details:
- The accusation: Al-Assaf asked how a financial empire worth close to 21 trillion dinars, over $13 billion, had been assembled in no more than 10 years, according to Rudaw. The statement was posted on Telegram and directed at both the prime minister and a close associate.
- The denial: Al-Assaf rejected reports aired by Saudi-owned Al Arabiya alleging Kataib Hezbollah controls commercial contracts inside Iraqi airports, calling them a “blatant lie” and part of a media war waged against the Iran-aligned axis, Rudaw reported.
- The trigger: Zaidi ordered three commercial contracts at Mosul International Airport cancelled on Saturday over allegations the contracting companies are linked to armed groups, Rudaw reported, and directed that they be reassigned to international firms.
- The named contract: Iraq’s state news agency INA, citing a source, said the prime minister instructed that a Sky Plus office-leasing contract at Mosul airport be terminated over its ties to armed groups and transferred to international companies.
- The threat: Al-Assaf warned against opening files on alleged plots to target the Khor Mor gas field in the Kurdistan Region, saying those in glass houses should not throw stones, according to Rudaw. Khor Mor sits between Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk and anchors the region’s power grid.
- The disarmament clock: Zaidi initially set end-September as the deadline for armed factions to surrender their weapons, timed to the end of the US-led coalition’s military mission in Iraq, then extended the timeline to the end of June 2027, Rudaw reported.
- The designations: Washington designated Kataib Hezbollah a foreign terrorist organization in July 2009 and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, led by Qais al-Khazali, in January 2020. In September 2025 it added Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Ansar Allah al-Awfiya and Kataib al-Imam Ali.
- Outside the list: The Badr Organization under Hadi al-Amiri remains undesignated despite long-standing ties to Iran and deep influence inside Iraq’s political and security institutions. The Popular Mobilization Forces, which includes groups of varying loyalties, is also not designated.
- The record: Kataib Hezbollah has previously attacked US forces in Iraq, struck Saudi Arabia, killed three American soldiers in Jordan in January 2024, and abducted researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov.
Background:
Iran has spent decades shaping Iraqi politics through armed factions and allied political blocs, with the Popular Mobilization Forces serving as the main vehicle for embedding them in the state. Dozens of such groups operate, including Badr, Nujaba, Ansar Allah al-Awfiya and Kataib al-Imam Ali.
Between the lines:
The Jerusalem Post assesses that tightening US sanctions and a new campaign to choke Iran’s land and Caspian supply routes raise the odds Tehran’s Iraqi proxies turn to violence. The Mosul contract cancellations and the 2027 disarmament deadline both squeeze the factions’ money and weapons at once, which the analysis reads as the pressure behind Kataib Hezbollah’s decision to attack the prime minister by name rather than privately.
What’s next
Watch whether Zaidi extends contract cancellations to other airports, whether Kataib Hezbollah follows through on releasing the Khor Mor files it referenced, and how factions respond as the June 2027 disarmament deadline approaches.
