Wednesday, 23 September 2026

An informed source told Shafaq News that an Iraqi court had sentenced MP Alia Nassif to seven years in prison for financial corruption and illicit enrichment. The source said the court also ordered her to repay funds and pay fines totalling nearly 27 billion dinars over wasted public money. Nassif has been detained since 28 June, when authorities launched the Dawn Crackdown anti-corruption campaign. Documents dated 26 August show that the Central Bank subsequently ordered a precautionary asset freeze covering Nassif and 11 other political figures. The reported ruling takes her case beyond detention and an asset freeze to a conviction, after a campaign that had already detained at least 210 people.

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York that his government would press ahead with bringing weapons under state control. Baghdad will announce a timetable and programme on 30 September, the date the US State Department says the coalition military mission remains on track to end. Press accounts attribute to al-Zaidi a proposal for factions to halt attacks for 90 days after that date, then transfer weapons to state control by 30 June 2027. Alsumaria reported a plan for a PMF directorate to receive the weapons under government supervision, with handovers beginning in January; the directorate has not been established. The proposed deadline differs from security adviser Qasim al-Araji’s statement that the weapons committee had no fixed completion date, and no faction described as complying has confirmed a handover. Reports attribute refusal to Kataib Hezbollah and Nujaba, while KSS secretary-general Abu Alaa al-Walai said regulation could begin only after all foreign forces leave. Rubio also accused Kataib Hezbollah of the attack on Saudi Arabia’s main oil pipeline, which Riyadh had attributed to Iraqi factions; Baghdad’s acknowledgement that the drones originated in Maysan does not establish who launched them.

Separately, Reuters reported, citing sources, that Iraq had suspended Iranian flights to Baghdad after a US sanctions threat. Iraqi government sources had earlier said a suspension would begin at dawn on 22 September. The threatened US restrictions on fuel, landing services and ticket sales for Iranian airlines are due to take effect on 23 September, with providers facing possible exclusion from the dollar system. An airport notice said Najaf had received no official instruction to stop accepting Iranian flights, while Erbil and Sulaymaniyah airports said services continued without a formal suspension notice. Najaf’s published schedule listed Iranian flights, but did not establish that every listed flight operated; private handlers had also declined service for fear of sanctions, according to an explanation carried alongside the airport statements. The reported Baghdad suspension does not establish a nationwide ban, and notices about official instructions do not settle what services private companies will provide.

Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry denied buying 25 oil tankers and rejected an Iraqi claim that such a purchase had raised the cost of shipping Iraqi crude. Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem al-Abadi had said that a Saudi purchase worth around $4.5 billion pushed Iraq’s transport cost from $26 to $37 per barrel. The Saudi ministry instead cited regional military escalation, declared Iranian attacks on vessels, disruption through the Strait of Hormuz, higher insurance risks and fewer tankers willing to operate in the region. Iraq is also working on a safe corridor for oil exports through Syrian ports, according to state news agency INA. Syria had already announced a consortium agreement to replace the Kirkuk–Baniyas pipeline, without giving a construction schedule. In New York, al-Zaidi separately urged HKN Energy to speed work on its Iraqi projects and discussed oil-field development with ExxonMobil. Those talks concern production; the Saudi-Iraqi dispute concerns the immediate cost of moving crude.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Kataib Hezbollah of carrying out the attack on Saudi Arabia’s main oil pipeline. Reconstruction and Development Bloc MP Mansour al-Baiji told Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official) that Israeli intelligence cells inside Iraq had attacked Saudi Arabia. Political-affairs researcher Essam Hussein, another guest on the channel, said Yemen had acknowledged an attack and denied Iraqi faction involvement. Al-Monitor reported that the Iraqi government acknowledged the drones originated in Maysan. Iraqi investigators had located launch platforms inside Iraq, but the reported origin does not establish who launched the drones. Rubio has named a faction; al-Baiji and Hussein have offered different accounts, neither of them a faction declaration.

Press reports attribute to Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi a plan to halt faction attacks for 90 days after the coalition mission ends on 30 September and transfer weapons to state control by 30 June 2027, after security adviser Qasim al-Araji said the weapons committee had no fixed completion deadline. Other accounts say the first phase would also stop faction statements and military activity from Iraqi territory through 1 January 2027; the reported plan would absorb fighters individually into state forces and treat groups still armed after June as outside the law. Alsumaria reported plans for a PMF directorate to receive weapons under government supervision, with handovers beginning in January; the directorate has not been established. A timetable and programme for state control of weapons would be announced on 30 September. Separately, the US State Department said the coalition military withdrawal remains on track for 30 September. Nujaba military deputy Abdul Qadir al-Karbalai said the resistance and PMF would not retreat, while KSS secretary-general Abu Alaa al-Walai said weapons regulation could begin only after all foreign forces left Iraq. Riyadh al-Tamimi (AAH — Sadiqoun MP) called regulation a national demand but sought sovereignty guarantees; Reconstruction and Development Bloc MP Mansour al-Baiji placed handover after US compliance. Al-Mawred Center head Najem al-Qasab, speaking on Al-Ahad, said every faction except Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah had begun handing over weapons, but no faction he described as complying has confirmed a handover.

Separately, Badr parliamentary bloc spokesman Hamed Abbas al-Mousawi warned Baghdad and the Civil Aviation Authority against enforcing reported US restrictions on Iranian airlines, due to take effect on 23 September. Falih al-Khazali (KSS — Muntasirun MP) also warned against submitting to US pressure in remarks carried by Al-Ittijah TV (KH — official). Al-Nujaba TV (Nujaba — official) posted Najaf airport’s schedule listing Iranian flights for Wednesday, while an airport notice said it had received no official instruction to stop accepting them. Sabereen News (KH — affiliated) said ground handler Menzies had stopped services and alleged it was acting on US embassy instructions. iNEWS (KSS — affiliated) relayed Erbil and Sulaymaniyah airports’ statements that Iran flights continued without a formal suspension notice, alongside an explanation that private handlers had declined service for fear of sanctions. The airport statements concern official instructions; the Najaf schedule does not establish that every listed flight operated.

Faction channels reported a seven-year sentence for MP Alia Nassif on corruption charges. The desk counted 11 of 33 watched channels across five networks focused on her. Al-Ghadeer TV (Badr Organization — official) cited a judicial source for the sentence, while Al-Ahad described a 27-billion-dinar fine as circulating. Unit 10,000 (KH — affiliated) attributed an order to return more than 61 billion dinars to the Integrity Commission. A separate report citing an informed source put repayments and fines together at nearly 27 billion dinars. The channels agree on the sentence, but their accounts give different sums and describe different financial orders.