Shafaq News- Baghdad
Abu Alaa al-Walae, secretary-general of the US-sanctioned Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, on Sunday, criticized “the US economic dominance” over Iraq, calling on Baghdad to diversify its export markets and banking ties to strengthen the country's financial independence.
Al-Walae said US control over Iraqi funds and resources was among the clearest signs of the country's incomplete sovereignty. “Does the free world accept that Iraq's wealth be treated as a grant handed to it, rather than a sovereign right of its people?” he wrote, arguing that full sovereignty requires not only territorial control but also independent political, economic, and financial decision-making.
Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada is an Iran-aligned political and paramilitary group. The US Department of State's Rewards for Justice program has offered up to $10 million for information leading to the capture or conviction of al-Walae, whose full name is Hashem Finyan Rahim al-Sarraji.
In July, the Secretary-General of Iraq's Harakat Hezbollah Al-Nujaba, Akram Al-Kaabi, said the US President Donald Trump and his administration “will not continue living under the illusion of stealing Iraq's oil and wealth, whether through direct theft or under the cover of suspicious investments,” adding that Iraq will never be subdued in any form,
During his last visit to Washington, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi signed a broad package of economic and energy agreements with the United States, amid an ongoing domestic debate over a Sept. 30 deadline for disarming Iran-aligned factions and bringing all weapons under state control.
— ابو الاء الولائي (@aboalaa_alwalae) August 15, 2026