Wafa Movement leader discusses US ‘scrutiny’ of PMF salary payments

BAGHDAD — Adnan Al-Zurfi, secretary general of the Iraqi Al-Wafa Movement, claims that U.S. scrutiny of Popular Mobilization Forces’ payroll could destabilize Iraq’s financial system.

“One of the main demands of the Americans is: Where do the PMF salaries go? How do they receive them?” Zurfi said in an interview with Al-Dijla TV. “This is a financial issue that the system will have to face. Digital payment companies handling these salaries will be subject to legal questioning. These impacts will be direct on the financial system.”

With sanctions targeting Iranian-linked factions, there is growing uncertainty over how Iraq will continue funding the group. “The state has no plan,” Zurfi said. “Will PMF salaries be cut? Yes, digitally, they will not continue, and they may have to be paid in cash.”

Some excerpt of Al-Zurfi’s interview on Al-Dijla TV:

The factions linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will be subjected to severe sanctions, reaching the confiscation of all their properties wherever they may be. According to their [U.S.] plan, these properties will be transferred to the families of U.S. Army casualties in the United States. This falls within the policy organized by U.S. national security towards Iran.

One of the main demands of the Americans is: Where do the PMF salaries go? How do they receive them? This is a financial issue that the system will have to face. Digital payment companies handling these salaries will be subject to legal questioning. These impacts will be direct on the financial system.

The state has no plan. Will PMF salaries be cut? Yes, digitally, they will not continue, and they may have to be paid in cash. To enter the global financial system, there must be transparency, and it must be known that the salaries are going to specific individuals directly, to individuals working within the framework and pattern of the state. This is what is required, and this is the country’s main problem.

We do not have sufficient auditing for employee numbers and salaries. Therefore, when these institutions are not clearly defined, they are considered a threat. If they are viewed this way, then their structure must be reconsidered.

The state has the right to establish any security and military institutions and to defend its internal security, provided that they do not pose a threat to regional security. And I say it clearly and explicitly—it is considered an institution that threatens regional security.