Iraqi PM Ali al-Zaidi sacks nine security officials in oil smuggling probe

Iraq's Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has dismissed several senior security officials over allegations of oil smuggling. Those dismissed include the police chief in Kabul province. The Prime Minister has also ordered those involved in smuggling operations in Jafal Nasser to be referred to The move follows an investigation which uncovered illegal oil refineries and evidence of manipulation linked to the smuggling activities. All right, Peter Smith is with us from Baghdad. He joins us now by phone. So, Peter, what else do we know here? Well, this is a developing story. Iraq's prime minister, Zaydi, has ordered the dismissal of nine senior security... and administrative officials and it's following an investigation into alleged oil smuggling in the south of Iraq. Now this is an investigation I think it's fair to say that's moved uncharacteristically swiftly here in Iraq after a leaked intelligence report just a few days ago. The Iraqi government has released a statement tonight that says its investigators have confirmed evidence now of illegal oil refineries, smuggling operations and the manipulation of oil In the area of Jurf al-Nasr, that's in the Babel province, south of Baghdad. Now, just to give a bit of context about this area, there are two strategic pipelines that run through this region. It's also an area known to be dominated by one of the main pro-Iranian armed groups operating here in Iraq called Kitab Hezbollah. Now, no one from Kitab Hezbollah has been named tonight in the statement, but we do now have a list. People who we are told have been relieved of their duties in relation to the government's investigation. And they include, as you have mentioned there, the chief of police in Babel, intelligence and national security officials, the commander of the popular mobilisation forces in Babel, and the head of the oil pipeline company. In other words, it's people who are responsible for policing the area, monitoring security threats and protecting Iraq's oil infrastructure have been relieved of their duties. And the prime minister of Iraq has said that everyone implicated in this operation will now be referred to the judiciary. And that threatens to leave open in Iraq the prospect of some significant escalation, depending on who is referred to the judiciary. OK, so, Peter, I know that this is a developing story and we may not have all of the information at this stage of the game, but can you help us at least understand which category we ought to be putting this in? And I mean, is this just a matter of. Pure criminality, smuggling for money, or is this something involving, say, trying to get sanctioned Iranian oil to other places to sort of boost profits there? These are two pipelines, two strategic pipelines that run. Through the south of Iraq and its oil that is in Iraq, it's not linked to kind of smuggling illegal oil in terms of countries that have been sanctioned. This is a pipeline that what the allegation is, is that from these two strategic pipelines that an armed group operating in the region was accused. ...of being involved in or having knowledge of that these two pipelines had been effectively tapped into and oil was being siphoned off, being smuggled and sold illegally on the black market. And we're not talking about, you know, a small-scale business here. This is an operation that was estimated to be worth somewhere in the region of $25 to $30 million every single month. And we're also talking about one of the most powerful and influential of these pro-Iranian armed groups that are operating here in Iraq, Kitab Hezbollah. And they have been involved in what we could describe as a war of words with the Iraq Prime Minister, Zaydi, for the last few months now. He had ordered them to disarm. He wanted all of the armed groups in Iraq to disarm by the end of September. Kitab Hezbollah are one of the groups who have outright refused to disarm. They said that they will not. And then they've been given an extension on their deadline. But in recent weeks, that war of words has escalated. There have been effectively kind of indirect threats and kind of... A bit of, you know, not particularly polite language exchanged between Tata Hezbollah and the Iraq Prime Minister Zaydi. And what we're seeing now is that with them being accused by this leaked intelligence report of being involved in criminality, in serious criminality, Iraq Prime Minister Zaydi ordering an investigation, and now with him saying that everyone involved will be referred to the judiciary, this now has the potential to escalate into something that is more significant than a war of words because Tata Hezbollah are one of the most heavily armed groups. And they have said outright in their statements that they will not stand by without defending themselves. So what we're seeing now, Scott, is that the biggest question facing authorities here is, can Iraq actually dismantle these networks who are operating outside of the military, the armed groups? They're being accused of stealing oil now. So there is a question about Iraq's authority, and it's a question over Prime Minister Zaydi's authority about what he will do. He's under pressure from the U.S. to get them under control. But, of course, he feels the pressure from the other side, from the east of the country, from Iran, and these are pro-Iranian. Armed groups very much aligned with Tehran. Now, the prime minister has promised that there will be nowhere in Iraq where smuggling will be allowed to continue. But now he has to demonstrate to his people that the groups that are smuggling oil and operating outside of the military, armed groups like this, can be held to account. It is his authority and his power now that's in question and will be tested in the weeks ahead. Yeah, it is a developing story. It is a complicated story as well. Peter Smith, for us there in Baghdad, we appreciate you helping us make sense of it. Thank you.