Second faction leader turns focus to US control of Iraq’s oil money

BAGHDAD — The head of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada attacked what he called American economic domination of Iraq on Sunday, the second leader of a faction refusing to disarm to make the country’s financial arrangements with Washington a target within days.

“One of the clearest manifestations of Iraq’s incomplete sovereignty is America’s economic domination over it, its occupation and control of its funds — literally — and its manipulation of its wealth,” Abu Alaa al-Walaei wrote on X. “Would the free people of dear Iraq accept that their wealth be dealt with as though it were a grant handed to them, rather than an inherent right of their people?” He asked whether it was too much to seek “liberation from American financial and economic domination, diversification of export markets and banking relationships, and the building of an economy that controls its own decisions, wealth and trade routes.”

Akram al-Kaabi of Harakat al-Nujaba made a similar argument days earlier, calling for Iraq to take oil revenues directly from buyers and change the channels through which its energy is sold. He went further, saying confronting U.S. investments had become a duty for the armed groups and describing them as a primary target.

Iraq sells crude through the state marketer SOMO, and most oil revenue is deposited in a government account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York under a framework established after the 2003 invasion. The Central Bank then requests dollar transfers or shipments to meet domestic needs.

It also comes weeks after Iraqi agencies and companies signed 48 agreements and memorandums with U.S. companies during Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s visit to Washington, covering oil, electricity, industry, technology and finance, with deals worth about $60 billion announced at a business gathering during the trip, according to The Associated Press.

Walaei leads one of three factions that have refused to join the government’s plan to bring weapons under state control by Sept. 30. He is a member of the Coordination Framework, the Shia alliance holding a parliamentary majority, and the U.S. State Department offered a reward of up to $10 million for information on him in April. Kataib Hezbollah has also refused; Saraya al-Salam, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Imam Ali Battalions have moved to comply.