US Envoy targets corruption, bars factions from power
Shafaq News- Baghdad
US Envoy t Iraq Mark Savaya said on Tuesday that Washington is working on the ground in Iraq to support the formation of a new government free from armed factions' dominance, while assembling what he described as an unprecedented corruption case targeting senior officials and their financial networks.
“While our team works on the ground in Iraq to support the formation of a new government and to prevent Iranian-backed militias from rising to positions of power,” Savaya said, “it is equally and even more critical to prepare for confronting the corruption crisis in Iraq.”
Savaya added that the effort goes beyond tracking looted state funds transferred abroad. “This cannot stop at tracing money. We must identify where those funds went and how they were ultimately used.”
While our team works on the ground in Iraq to support the formation of a new government and to prevent Iranian backed militias from rising to positions of power, it is equally and even more critical to prepare for confronting the corruption crisis in Iraq. This effort must go…
— Mark Savaya (@Mark_Savaya) January 27, 2026
“Corruption does not only harm the Iraqi people or undermine national security, it empowers terrorist groups and fuels terrorism across multiple countries,” he warned.
He said the effort will be coordinated closely with the US Treasury Department and the Office of Foreign Assets Control. “Accountability will be enforced without exception,” Savaya said. “No one is above the law, and justice must be delivered to the Iraqi people.”
In recent months, the Treasury has sanctioned more than 30 Iraqi individuals and entities for laundering billions through offshore fronts and illicit currency exchanges. It has also targeted more than a dozen companies and individuals in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, accusing them of channeling funds to Iran’s military through oil sales and cryptocurrency.
Read more: Iraq under US financial scrutiny: When corruption meets sovereignty
