US Imposes Sanctions on Iraqi Deputy Oil Minister for Aiding Iran

The United States government has imposed sanctions on Iraq’s Deputy Oil Minister, Ali Maarij Al-Bahadly, and a number of pro-Iran militia leaders in Iraq. The US accuses the Iraqi Deputy Minister and the militia leaders of facilitating the diversion of oil for sale to profit Tehran’s regime and its proxy militias in Iraq.

The sanctions, as reported by Al Arabiya and Anadolu Agency on Friday (8/5/2026), were imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury, which states that Maarij and the pro-Iran militia leaders are exploiting Iraq’s oil sector to fund terrorism and undermine the country’s stability.

The sanctions were announced by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in his latest statement.

“Like a criminal gang, the Iranian regime is plundering resources that should belong to the Iraqi people,” Bessent said in the US sanctions announcement.

“The Department of the Treasury will not stand idly by while Iran’s military exploits Iraqi oil to fund terrorism against the United States and our partners,” he emphasised.

The US Department of the Treasury accuses Maarij of helping to facilitate the diversion of Iraqi oil products to benefit the Iranian regime and pro-Iran militias in Iraq.

This includes allowing the mixing of Iraqi oil worth several million US dollars per day with Iranian oil before shipment to markets.

The US Department of the Treasury has also imposed sanctions on three senior leaders of terrorist militias allied with Iran, namely Kata’ib Sayyid Al-Shuhada and Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq.

Mustafa Hashim Lazim Al-Behadili, a senior financial official of the Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq militia, has been sanctioned by the US for allegedly overseeing oil smuggling operations across southern Iraq. Four Iraqi companies linked to Al-Behadili have also been blacklisted by the US.

Meanwhile, two senior officials from Kata’ib Sayyid Al-Shuhada have been sanctioned by the US for allegedly channelling millions of US dollars to Hezbollah in Lebanon to purchase weapons that were then sent to Iraq.

In its statement, the US Department of the Treasury said that the US will continue to hold these groups and other Iranian-allied terrorist militias in Iraq, such as Kata’ib Hezbollah, accountable for their attacks on US forces and civilians, diplomatic facilities, and business centres in various parts of Iraq.