ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani on Saturday ordered an investigation into allegations that Iranian oil is being smuggled through Iraq, after the United States sanctioned an Iraqi-linked network.
Sudani ordered the formation of "a high-level investigative committee from relevant authorities to investigate information received regarding suspicions of corruption in the mixing and smuggling of crude oil and petroleum products, whether at Iraqi ports or within Iraqi territorial waters," according to a statement from his office.
The US Department of State on Tuesday announced it was sanctioning “a network of companies and vessels” headed by Waleed al-Samarra’i, a dual citizen of Iraq and Saint Kitts and Nevis, accused of smuggling Iranian oil disguised as a product of Iraq.
Sudani stressed the need to "avoid complacency in this matter, and that the committee will submit its recommendations... to the Council of Ministers to take appropriate measures in accordance with the law."
Iraq's state-owned oil marketing company has already dismissed the American allegations.
“There is no mixing or smuggling of Iraqi crude oil or oil products, whether in ports or within regional waters,” Ali Nizar Faiq, general director of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), told the state-run Iraqi News Agency.
“All oil tankers are subject to real-time follow-up from loading until they reach refineries or importing companies,” Faiq said, adding that SOMO relies on “advanced tracking software, including the American company Kepler’s software” for accurate information on tanker movements.
“Any unjustified stoppage is immediately monitored,” he said.
Kepler is a data intelligence and analytics company that specializes in providing real-time information on global commodity flows, including Iraqi oil, by using satellite technology and shipping data.
The US Department of State said on Tuesday that the new sanctions were to “stem the flow of revenues to the Iranian regime for its destructive and destabilizing conduct in Iraq, the Middle East, and around the world.”
It added that the US would continue to use “all available tools” to counter “those who enable Iran’s illicit oil trade.”
In July, the US also sanctioned Iraqi-British businessman Salim Ahmed Said for using fraudulent documentation and ship-to-ship transfers to disguise Iranian oil as Iraqi crude. SOMO denied the allegations.
