Iraqi Forces Capture Deputy of ISIS Slain Leader Baghdadi, Says PM

Iraq has captured Sami Jasim, a high-ranking member of ISIS in charge of the group's finance and a deputy of slain leader. (Reuters file photo)
Iraq has captured Sami Jasim, a high-ranking member of ISIS in charge of the group's finance and a deputy of slain leader. (Reuters file photo)
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Iraqi Forces Capture Deputy of ISIS Slain Leader Baghdadi, Says PM

Iraq has captured Sami Jasim, a high-ranking member of ISIS in charge of the group's finance and a deputy of slain leader. (Reuters file photo)
Iraq has captured Sami Jasim, a high-ranking member of ISIS in charge of the group's finance and a deputy of slain leader. (Reuters file photo)

Iraqi security forces have captured a senior member of the ISIS group who was a deputy to slain leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and oversaw its finances, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said on Monday.

Sami Jasim was detained in “a complex external operation” by Iraqi intelligence services, Kadhimi wrote on Twitter, without giving further details or saying where he had been captured.

Jasim, an Iraqi national, is one of ISIS’ core leaders who may offer valuable information on the group’s operations, said Hassan Hassan, an expert on the group. He is only the second senior ISIS leader to be taken alive, he said.

Baghdadi, who declared himself leader of a cross-border “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq in 2014, was killed in an operation by US special forces in northwestern Syria in 2019.

While ISIS was driven out of most of the territory it once held in Syria and Iraq several years ago, Western military officials estimate that it still has at least 10,000 fighters across the two countries, typically in remote areas.

“While we are not commenting on any specific operation, we applaud our brave Iraqi partners as they regularly lead and conduct destructive blows to the remnants of (ISIS),” lieutenant colonel Joel Harper, spokesman for the US-led coalition, said in a response to a question from Reuters about Jasim’s capture.

The US-led coalition is working with Iraqi security forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria against remnants of the group. In Iraq, ISIS militants still wage regular attacks on police, army and Iraqi state paramilitary units, killing dozens of police and fighters in the past year.

Hassan, author of a book on ISIS and editor in chief of New Lines Magazine, said Jasim is a member of ISIS’ top leadership council, the delegated committee, which has between half a dozen and a dozen members, and is a close aide of the group’s leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi.

His role had expanded from overseer of the group’s finances to coordinating activities between Iraq and Syria, Hassan said.

“He is involved in the day-to-day operations of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, so strategically and tactically, this is a significant capture for the Iraqis,” he told Reuters.

“Usually, (ISIS leaders) blow themselves up or fight to the end.”

According to the website of the US Department of State’s counter-terrorism rewards program, Rewards for Justice, Jasim has been “instrumental in managing finances for ISIS’s terrorist operations”.

“While serving as ISIS deputy in southern Mosul in 2014, he reportedly served as the equivalent of ISIS´s finance minister, supervising the group´s revenue-generating operations from illicit sales of oil, gas, antiquities, and minerals,” it says.



Egypt Welcomes Tehran’s Renaming of ‘Islamabouli Street’ as a Turning Point in Relations with Iran

Relations between Egypt and Iran saw a notable thaw following Araghchi’s visit to Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
Relations between Egypt and Iran saw a notable thaw following Araghchi’s visit to Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
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Egypt Welcomes Tehran’s Renaming of ‘Islamabouli Street’ as a Turning Point in Relations with Iran

Relations between Egypt and Iran saw a notable thaw following Araghchi’s visit to Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
Relations between Egypt and Iran saw a notable thaw following Araghchi’s visit to Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)

Egypt has welcomed Iran’s decision to rename a Tehran street once dedicated to Khalid al-Islamabouli - the Egyptian army officer who assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981 - describing the move as a significant step toward resetting bilateral relations.

In the first official Egyptian response to the development, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ambassador Tamim Khallaf told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Renaming the street is a positive step in Egyptian-Iranian relations. It helps put matters back on the right track.”

The street, long a source of tension between Cairo and Tehran, has now been renamed after Hassan Nasrallah, the former Secretary-General of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, following a decision by the Tehran City Council.

Iranian media reported that a formal ceremony was held to unveil the new name, attended by officials, intellectuals, and civil society figures. The change was part of a wider initiative that saw 11 streets in the capital renamed last month.

Dr. Hoda Raouf, a Cairo-based expert on Iranian affairs, said the move reflects “a meaningful shift and a clear sign of Iran’s serious intent to restore relations with Egypt.”

She noted that Egyptian-Iranian ties have two key dimensions: regional security - particularly Egypt’s opposition to Iranian interference in countries such as Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen - and the bilateral relationship, which has long been strained over symbolic gestures such as honoring Sadat’s assassin.

Political philosopher and Iran specialist Dr. Mohamed Khairy echoed that assessment, calling the street name change “a significant development.”

He emphasized that the decision was passed by majority vote and attended by influential figures from Iran’s political establishment, which he said reflects a genuine desire within Iran to repair ties with Cairo.

The gesture comes amid signs of warming relations between the two nations. Iranian top diplomat Abbas Araghchi recently visited Cairo, where he met President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and senior officials.

His visit included a symbolic walk through the historic Khan el-Khalili bazaar, prayers at the Al-Hussein Mosque, and dinner at the famed Naguib Mahfouz restaurant.

Sisi also held a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the recent Israeli escalation against Iran, in which he affirmed Egypt’s rejection of Israeli attacks on Iranian territory.