Iraq’s Top Court Holds Political Forces Responsible for Widespread Corruption

Iraqi taxis drive past a Christmas tree decorated with images of slain members of the Popular Mobilization Forces, including commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and slain commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qasem Soleimani, at Tahrir Square in the capital Baghdad, on New Year's day on January 1, 2023. (AFP)
Iraqi taxis drive past a Christmas tree decorated with images of slain members of the Popular Mobilization Forces, including commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and slain commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qasem Soleimani, at Tahrir Square in the capital Baghdad, on New Year's day on January 1, 2023. (AFP)
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Iraq’s Top Court Holds Political Forces Responsible for Widespread Corruption

Iraqi taxis drive past a Christmas tree decorated with images of slain members of the Popular Mobilization Forces, including commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and slain commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qasem Soleimani, at Tahrir Square in the capital Baghdad, on New Year's day on January 1, 2023. (AFP)
Iraqi taxis drive past a Christmas tree decorated with images of slain members of the Popular Mobilization Forces, including commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and slain commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qasem Soleimani, at Tahrir Square in the capital Baghdad, on New Year's day on January 1, 2023. (AFP)

The Federal Supreme Court in Iraq recognized the lack of real will of the political class to combat corruption. This came in the wake of the Iraqi National Security Agency announcing that it had uncovered the largest crude oil smuggling network.  

“Iraqis have lost their confidence in public offices due to widespread financial and administrative corruption among employees at a time when the administrative system in Iraq was one of the most prominent systems in the Middle East,” said head of the Federal Supreme Court Judge Jassim Mohammed Abboud.  

While the parties behind the oil smuggling network remain unknown, defendants accused of embezzling $2.5 billion from a government taxpayer account are still at large. Nour Zuhair, the only defendant arrested in the case, was released on bail with authorities hoping to recover stolen funds.  

As for Abboud, he told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that corruption in Iraq is divided into two types. 

“Petty corruption is what is committed by junior employees, and this leads to the Iraqi citizen losing confidence in the public office,” he said. 

“Grand corruption is what is committed by senior officials or by some political parties. This corruption is what impedes the building of the state,” he explained.  

Abboud stressed that “the lack of a real national strategy and intention to fight corruption is the reason for its prevalence.”  

“When there is a real political will to end corruption, it will end,” he asserted.  

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Iraqi legal expert Ahmed al-Abadi said: “Efforts to combat corruption are minor compared to its prevalence in state institutions.”  

“This is due to lack of political will,” explained Abadi, adding that those involved in major corruption cases are not pursued until after they had left their post in the government. 



At Least 15 Killed in Suicide Bombing at Damascus Church

A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
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At Least 15 Killed in Suicide Bombing at Damascus Church

A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

At least 15 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Syria's capital Damascus on Sunday, security sources said.

Syria's interior ministry said the suicide bomber was an ISIS member. He entered the church, opened fire and then detonated his explosive vest, the ministry added in a statement.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two men were involved in the attack, including the one who blew himself up.

Syria's state news agency cited the health ministry as putting the preliminary casualty toll at nine dead and 13 injured.

Some local media reported that children were among the casualties.

A livestream from the site by Syria's civil defense, the White Helmets, showed scenes of destruction from within the church, including a bloodied floor and shattered church pews and masonry.

Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mostafa condemned the attack, calling it a terrorist attack.

“This cowardly act goes against the civic values that brings us together,” he said in a post on X. “We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship ... and we also affirm the state’s pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organizations and to protect society from all attacks threatening its safety.”