US military vehicles move along a road in a convoy transporting Islamic State group detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on February 7, 2026. Iraq's judiciary announced on February 2 that it had begun investigations into more than 1,300 Islamic State group detainees who were transferred from Syria as part of a US operation. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
Iraq says ISIS detainees from Syria will be returned to home countries after legal process
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s National Security Advisory said Sunday that Islamic State detainees transferred from Syria will not remain in Iraq permanently and that the government is working to return them to their home countries after legal procedures.
Saeed al-Jiyashi, strategic affairs adviser at the National Security Advisory, told the Iraqi News Agency that “the issue of transferring Islamic State prisoners came at the request of national security, and there were exceptional circumstances in Syria where prisons were subjected to security disruption, some of which were opened and prisoners escaped from them.”
He added that “Iraq took all security precautions with the participation of all security agencies, and also with the follow-up of the Supreme Judicial Council. The transfer was supervised by the Counter Terrorism Service and the process was successful.”
Jiyashi stressed that “the presence of Islamic State prisoners is not permanent in Iraq, and the government is working on returning them to their countries, and all those who arrived in Iraq belong to more than 67 countries.”
He said that “the presence of Islamic State prisoners in Iraq and under the control of Iraqi security agencies and the administration of the Iraqi judiciary is better than dealing with them in an open and uncontrolled environment so that there are no future clashes.”
Earlier, the Justice Ministry said 5,703 detainees transferred from Syria are being held in Iraqi prisons, representing 61 nationalities. Ministry spokesperson Mohammed Laibi said the total includes 467 Iraqis, 3,543 Syrians, 4,253 Arabs overall and 983 foreigners.
Laibi said “memorandums of cooperation can be concluded after sentencing through the leaderships, also for the purpose of reciprocity and achieving the supreme national interest,” indicating a legal pathway for transferring detainees after court rulings.
The transfers followed security disruptions at detention facilities in northern Syria. Iraqi authorities say all detainees are being held pending investigation and trial under Iraqi law.