Ex-PM Kadhimi backs Zaidi after Jurf al-Sakhar oil smuggling dismissals

BAGHDAD — Former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Sunday backed Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s decisions and said oil belongs to Iraqis, a day after Zaidi removed nine officials following an oil smuggling inquiry in Jurf al-Sakhar.

“We support the decisions of Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaidi as part of entrenching the logic of the state, activating the principle of accountability and applying the law to everyone without exception,” Kadhimi said in a statement from his media office.

The statement did not say which decisions he meant or mention Jurf al-Sakhar, in northern Babil. On Saturday, Zaidi relieved nine security and oil officials and ordered everyone accused of oil smuggling in the area referred to the courts after his inquiry presented its findings.

“Oil wealth belongs to Iraqis, and protecting it is a national duty,” Kadhimi said. “Regulating the oil sector and strengthening transparency open the door to a safe and fair investment environment that attracts the American and international companies whose expertise Iraq needs, and ensures the country’s rights are preserved.”

Serious institutional work protects public money and strengthens citizens’ trust in the state and its future, he added.

Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-aligned faction widely regarded as controlling Jurf al-Sakhar, on Sunday denied smuggling oil in the area. It accused Zaidi of breaking his pledge to it and his office of spreading “fabricated reports.” The faction said it would not give ground on Jurf al-Sakhar or its weapons, however much pressure the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the United States brought to bear through Zaidi’s government.

Kataib Hezbollah has brigades in the Popular Mobilization Forces, the state-sanctioned umbrella of mostly Shiite armed groups formed in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group. The United States designated the faction a terrorist organization in 2009.

Earlier Sunday, Humam Hammoudi, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, said any infringement on Iraq’s oil was an infringement on public wealth. His party belongs to the Coordination Framework, the ruling alliance of Shiite parties.

In September, Kadhimi told Al-Sharqiya TV that any weapon held outside the state is illegitimate whatever the justification. He said the United States and countries in the region had told Iraq the issue must be resolved because rockets launched from Iraqi territory could threaten them.

Kadhimi served as prime minister from 2020 to 2022.