An undated photo of Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, chosen by the pro-Iranian Shiite coalition for the position of Prime Minister in Iraq. (Credit: AFP)
Some people from Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani’s circle are involved in hacking, wiretapping and political surveillance scandals. This could prove costly for him and cause a stir in relations between Baghdad and Washington, argued the pan-Arab news website Middle East Eye (MEE).
It all began at the end of July, when several Iraqi MPs received anonymous messages on WhatsApp suggesting that four members of the Parliamentary Finance Committee had falsified the budget they had voted on a few days earlier.
Three weeks later, the same number sent messages to several high-ranking political figures, including the president of the Supreme Judicial Council and various ministers of the current cabinet.
“The custodian, the leader and the forger are preparing to appoint an MP known for his forged certificate as a candidate for the presidency of Parliament,” the message read.
These enigmatic titles refer respectively to Qais al-Khazali, commander of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, one of Iraq's most powerful Iran-backed armed factions and a key leader of the ruling Shiite Coordination Framework alliance, Ahmed Abdullah al-Jubouri, governor of the Saladin governorate and leader of the Jamahir party, and Mohammad al-Halbousi, former Iraqi parliament speaker.
The MP in question appears to be Ziad al-Janabi, Shiite leader of the Initiative parliamentary group. In mid-August, some 50 Sunni MPs supported his candidacy to become Parliament Speaker, even though this post is usually held by a Sunni figure.
Tracing the trail back to the ‘night visitor,’ a term used in Iraq to designate a person who intrudes into the private lives of others, the investigators were eventually led to the National Security Service as well as the Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS), headed by Ahmad Ibrahim al-Sudani, a cousin of the Prime Minister.
This suggests that the eavesdropping cell was based at the center of power in Baghdad, within the prime minister's office, and that the spying operation was authorized directly by his relative, who was the subject of an arrest warrant at the end of August before being questioned and released on bail.
The eavesdropping cell reportedly attempted to gather compromising information on various political figures, including MPs, judicial officials, intelligence agents and female family members of prominent figures.
U.S.-made devices
“So far, all signs indicate that the network was formed for internal, not external, purposes,” a senior security official told MEE. “The network aimed to tighten Sudani's grip on the political and security scenes to ensure that he would obtain more terms as prime minister.”
Mohammad Juhi, an influential figure in Sudani's office, is accused of having led the operation. “Juhi and his fellow plotters allegedly acquired surveillance equipment used by INIS’s Eavesdropping and Targeting Unit, according to officials familiar with the investigation. In particular, they used a U.S.-made portable device called a Kingfish,” reported MEE, explaining that this device “used by law enforcement and intelligence agencies to track and intercept phone signals by mimicking a mobile phone tower.”
The U.S. supplied a number of such devices to Iraqi security agencies as part of military gear provided since 2015 to support the fight against Islamic State (IS) group militants. However, they were withdrawn in 2018 and 2019, “after it was proven that they were being used for personal purposes” – with the exception of the devices designated to INIS.
For the Washington Institute – which pointed out that it was the CIA that vetted and trained INIS personnel for 20 years – “the United States should greatly restrict intelligence cooperation with INIS” following this scandal.
“While the country’s numerous other intelligence agencies became deeply penetrated by Iran-backed militants, INIS remained a bastion of relative trustworthiness for the United States and other Western governments... Yet all of this changed when Sudani became prime minister,” explained the American think tank at a time when the two countries have reached an agreement on a timetable for the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in the country.
Since he took office in 2022, Sudani has eliminated many of the key INIS officers trusted by the United States, replacing them with Iran-backed militia operatives.
According to MEE, the work of Judge Ali Jafat on this case is “almost complete” in Iraq.
Dozens of lawsuits have already been filed against those accused of involvement on charges including wiretapping, blackmail and threats, and most of these lawsuits are against the prime minister himself.
“With elections expected by October 2025, some believe Sudani’s political fate has already been sealed,” according to the media outlet.
