Report Accuses Iran’s Quds Force of Smuggling Millions of Dollars from Iraq

Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s (Reuters/File)
Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s (Reuters/File)
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Report Accuses Iran’s Quds Force of Smuggling Millions of Dollars from Iraq

Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s (Reuters/File)
Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s (Reuters/File)

A report published by Iran International news channel accused on Tuesday the Quds Force, the foreign arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), of smuggling millions of dollars from Iraq to the Guard's accounts in Iran, in cooperation with the Iranian embassy in Baghdad.

The channel, based in London, said it has obtained information that unravels some details about the inner workings of a Quds force unit tasked with smuggling money from Iraq to Iran.

On its Twitter account, it added that the Quds Force smuggled millions of dollars from currency-exchange offices in Baghdad, Najaf, Karbala and Sulaymaniyah to the accounts of the Revolutionary Guards in Iran.
“In Iraq, the network is apparently managed by an old Quds Force operative identified as Mahmoud Hasanizadeh, who oversees the job with the help of two Iraqi citizens, Maytham Hamzah Qassem Daraji and Maytham Sadiqi,” the channel said.

It also revealed that Mohammad Tajan-Jari, the financial manager of the 400th unit of IRGC’s Quds Force, was in charge of transferring the funds to the unit’s account in a branch of Ansar Bank in the capital Tehran.

The bank had been founded by the IRGC in 2010 and was officially merged into the IRGC’s official Bank Sepah.

“Tajan-Jari's executive officer in Iraq is Mostafa Pakbatan, an employee of the Iranian Embassy and a member of the Quds Force, who receives the dollars from exchange offices in Iraq,” Iran International noted.

The channel said it had obtained a financial deposit receipt for the account of Hussein Asina, a commercial activist linked to the Quds Force.

It said the information “reveals a summary of the Revolutionary Guards’ money laundering in Iraq, which drained the capital of the Iraqi market.”



UK Says Situation in the Middle East is Dangerous

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves 10 Downing Street, on the day British Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss Israel-Iran conflict, in London, Britain, June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves 10 Downing Street, on the day British Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss Israel-Iran conflict, in London, Britain, June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
TT

UK Says Situation in the Middle East is Dangerous

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves 10 Downing Street, on the day British Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss Israel-Iran conflict, in London, Britain, June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves 10 Downing Street, on the day British Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss Israel-Iran conflict, in London, Britain, June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy

British Foreign Minister David Lammy stated after holding talks in Washington with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff that the situation in the Middle East “remains perilous” but that “there was a window for diplomacy”.

“The situation in the Middle East remains perilous. We are determined that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon”, said Lammy in a post on X.

“Meeting with @SecRubio and @SteveWitkoff in the White House today, we discussed how a deal could avoid a deepening conflict. A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution”, he underscored referring to the White House saying on Thursday that President Donald Trump would give two weeks before deciding whether to join Israeli strikes.

European foreign ministers are set to meet their Iranian counterpart on Friday aiming to create a pathway back to diplomacy over its contested nuclear program despite the US considering joining Israeli strikes against Iran. Ministers from Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, as well as the European Union's foreign policy chief spoke to Abbas Araghchi earlier this week and have been coordinating with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

In a rare call, they pressed upon Araghchi the need to return to the negotiating table and avoid further escalation. At Iran's suggestion, the two sides agreed to meet face-to-face in Geneva.