Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iraq, February 6, 2020—A program broadcast by Al-Hurra TV on Tuesday explored a list of 32,000 Iraqis, many of whom are politicians and senior commanders of paramilitary forces, who are getting their paycheck from the Iranian regime.
“Documents reveal that 32,000 Iraqis are directly getting their salaries from Iran, and at the top of the list are commanders of armed paramilitary forces who claim to be Iraqis but are closely tied to Iran,” Al-Hurra reported, adding that many of the persons on the list occupied top seats in the government.
The documents were first obtained and published by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). Many of the people included in the list have great influence and clout in government bodies, especially the security forces.
“This list is being discussed while the people of Iraq are in the midst of a revolution against the ruling class and the influence of Iran in the government institutions of this country,” Al-Hurra reports.
Since protests began in Iraq in October 2019, Iran-backed militias have killed hundreds of protesters in the streets, and have abducted and murdered many activists and protests organizers in their homes. This list further proves the violent intervention of the mullahs’ regime in Iraq, which Al-Hurra describes as “the occupation of Iraq by the mullahs’ regime.”
Following is a short glimpse of some of the people who are on Iran’s payroll.
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, commander of the Kata’ib Hezbollah militia
One of the most prominent names in the list of Iran agents in Iraq is Jafar Mohammed Ali al-Ibrahimi, also known as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Al-Muhandis was killed on January 3, 2020, in a U.S.-led drone strike against a convoy that also carried Qassem Soleimani, the chief terrorist of the Iranian regime and then-commander of the terrorist Quds Force. Al-Muhandis has been working with the Revolutionary Guards since 1984. He was actively involved in terrorist operations against the MEK in Iraq.
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Iranian regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei
Hadi al-Amiri, commander of the Badr Corps
His full name is Hadi Farhan al-Amiri and he is currently the commander of the Badr Corps. He was also deputy commander of Kata’ib, second to al-Muhandis, and the deputy commander of the Hashd al-Shaabi, the umbrella organization of militia forces backed by the Iranian regime headed by Falih al-Fayyadh, the national advisor of former Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki.
Amiri also heads the “Al-Fath” coalition in the parliament and had close ties to Qassem Soleimani.
Hadi al-Amiri with Qasem Soleimani
Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani, security advisor of interior minister and one of the commanders of Hashd al-Shaabi
In the list of the regime’s paid hands is the name of Mustafa Abdul Hussein Hassan al-Atabi. He is currently a security advisor to the interior minister and is one of the commanders of Hashd al-Shaabi. He cooperated with al-Muhandis in the founding of Kata’ib. Al-Sheibani, who is a candidate to head the Hashd, has been working for the IRGC since 1986.
In interrogation files released in 2018, Qais Khazali, a prominent Iran-backed Shiite militia leader, had described al-Sheibani as the “leader and supervisor for the groups belonging to Khamenei.”
Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani
Abu Ali al-Basri, deputy commander of Hashd al-Shaabi
One of the records in Iran’s payroll of Iraqi agents belongs to Adnan Ibrahim Mohsen. He has adopted the Iranian name Mohseni Adnan and is also known as Abu Ali al-Basri. After the death of al-Muhandis, al-Basri was appointed as the deputy commander of the Hashd al-Shaabi.
Al-Basri was under the command of Qassem Soleimani and headed the Hashd’s operations command. He is also one of the most prominent military commanders of the Badr Corps.
Abu Ali al-Basri
Abu Montazir al-Mohammadawi, a Badr Corps commander
Al-Mohammadawi, whose name on Iran’s payroll is Hatam Aswad Mohammed al-Mohammadawi, was killed in Fallujah in 2015. He was one of the commanders of the Badr Corps. He moved to Iran in the 1980s with his family and joined the IRGC in 1984.
Abu Montazir al-Mohammadawi
Haji Salam al-Deirawi, commander of Badr forces in Basra
He is presented as Abdulsalam Abdulzohreh Mohsin al-Deirawi and is the commander of Badr forces in Iraq’s Basra province. He introduces himself as one of the trainees of Iran’s Bassij forces. He joined the Badr Corps in 1991.
Haji Salam al-Deirawi
Mohammad Mahdi al-Bayati, former human rights minister
Mohammad Adib Hamas al-Bayati was the human rights minister in the administration of former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. He served the IRGC for a long time and was involved in operations against the MEK. He is on the payroll of the Badr Corps and receives his salary from Iran.
Mohammad Mahdi al-Bayati (left)
Abu Ahmed al-Rashed, former communications minister and governor of Basra province
Hassan Kadhim al-Rashed, also known as Abu Ahmed al-Rashed, was appointed as the minister of communications in 2014. He was also the governor of Basra province.
Abu Ahmed is one of the field commanders and intelligence officers of the “Haidar al-Karrar” brigade and has been receiving his salary from the Iranian regime since 1991.
Abu Ahmed al-Rashed
Qassem al-Araji, one of the commanders of the Badr Corps and former interior minister
Qassem Mohammed Jalal al-Araji, also known as Qassem al-Araji, is one of the Badr commanders receiving his pay from Iran. He has occupied several government posts in the past years and was interior minister for several years.
He pledged allegiance to the Iranian regime in 1988 has been on Tehran’s payroll since.
Qassem Mohammed Jalal al-Araji
It is worth noting that Iraq is faced with a crisis regarding the assembly of its future government. Millions of protesters who have been in the streets of different cities have been calling for a government that is not under the influence of the Iranian regime.
Barham Salih, Iraq’s president, recently appointed Mohammed Tawfiq Alawi as the country’s new prime minister. But the protesters rejected the nomination due to Alawi’s ties to the Iranian regime.
