Iraq has moved to classify Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi movement as terrorist groups and freeze their assets, in a decision taken in late October and made binding when it appeared in the Iraqi Official Gazette in mid-November. The step, issued in Baghdad by a high-level financial and security committee, comes as Iraqi leaders try to shield the country’s banking system from sanctions while balancing ties with both Iran and the United States.
Decision 61 from the Committee for the Freezing of Terrorists’ Assets names 24 organizations as terrorist entities, including Hezbollah and the Yemeni group also known as Ansar Allah, and orders the blocking of any funds linked to them inside Iraq. The committee, chaired by Central Bank Governor Ali Mohsen al-Alaq, brings together senior representatives from the cabinet secretariat, the anti-money-laundering authority, and the ministries of finance, interior, foreign affairs, justice, trade, communications, and science and technology, along with the Integrity Commission, the Counter-Terrorism Service, and the intelligence service.
Give the gift of hope
We practice what we preach:
accurate, fearless journalism. But we can't do it alone.
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
Join us.
Support The Media Line. Save democracy.
A government adviser told The New Arab that the move was driven by the need to satisfy Washington’s financial demands and avert penalties on core institutions such as the Central Bank and the state oil marketer SOMO. “These are commitments Iraq cannot avoid under the current pressure,” the adviser said. “It is a financial measure more than a political one, and it will not have political consequences.”
The decision lands as US President Donald Trump continues a policy of intense economic pressure on Iran, whose allies include powerful Shiite factions in Iraq. Tehran has long relied on Iraq as a crucial economic corridor under US sanctions.
Inside Iraq, the listings triggered a fierce backlash from figures close to those factions. MP Mustafa Sanad wrote that “Iraq, sadly, designates the Houthis and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations while nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. Shame on you. A disgrace that many Arab states have not committed. Sudani’s speech at the Arab Summit two years ago has been proven empty words.”