Hashd al-Shaabi smuggling oil from Kirkuk to Iran: MP

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Hashd al-Shaabi militias (PMF) in Iraq are selling millions of dollars in crude oil to Iran, a lawmaker in Baghdad's parliament charged on Tuesday.

“According to documents currently in my possession, a Hashd al-Shaabi command unit is sending 50 oil trucks to Iran daily,” Shakhawan Abdulla, an MP from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) told Kurdistan 24.

He went on to assert that the Iran-backed militias and officials from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) made an agreement to cooperate on oil-smuggling scams in the runup to the events of Oct. 16, when Kurdish Peshmerga forces were pushed from Kirkuk and other disputed territories.

Since then, said Abdulla, the PUK has been left out of the deal. "Those who handed Kirkuk over to Haashd al-Shaabi have lost all their official posts in the city," he said, naming the positions of governor, chief of police, and health minister.

The oil-rich province of Kirkuk came under the protection of Peshmerga forces shortly after the emergence of the Islamic State (IS) in 2014 and subsequent collapse of the Iraqi army. They remained until October 2017, when Iraqi forces and the militias took over the disputed territories in response to the Kurdistan Region’s September independence referendum.

Abdulla told Kurdistan 24 that PMF leaders promised to exchange a portion of future oil smuggled from Kirkuk in return for a PUK agreement to withdraw Peshmerga forces loyal to the party shortly before the October military operations, in effect assisting Iraq's takeover of the disputed territories.

Acting Head of Kirkuk Provincial Council Rebwar Talabani told Kurdistan 24, "After the events of Oct. 16, Kirkuk has been extremely disorganized. The Ministry of Oil is responsible for the way in which any deal involving oil goes forward."

He said that Kirkuk is in a state of confusion and that, regarding matters of oil, the council is almost completely unaware of what is transpiring in the multi-ethnic province.

Abdulla, the MP accusing the PMF of ongoing smuggling, further claims that PUK is obstructing the return of the Peshmerga to Kirkuk, cementing the ongoing control by the militias and Iraqi security forces.

Only when the two Kurdish parties act together, he said, Peshmerga forces would have the ability to retake the province and again be the dominant force there and in other disputed territories.

“If the PUK backed the KDP, we could return to the 2014 status quo.”

Editing by John J. Catherine