بعد ساعات من معاقبته لـ«حزب الله» و«الحوثيين».. العراق يتراجع

Hours after issuing a decision to punish Hezbollah and the Houthis by classifying them as terrorist entities within the country, and ordering the freezing of all their funds and assets, the Iraqi government today (Thursday) retracted the classification and stated that the statement regarding the classification of Hezbollah and the Houthis was an unedited version.

The Iraqi authorities - the Committee for Freezing Terrorist Funds - had included the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen on its lists, in implementation of a series of Security Council resolutions related to combating terrorism and its financing, according to what was reported in issue 4848 published on November 17, 2025, of the Iraqi "Official Gazette" issued by the Iraqi government.

The committee's decisions are based on the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Law No. 39 of 2015, and the Terrorist Funds Freezing System No. 6 of 2023, in addition to the UN resolutions related to ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and the entities and individuals associated with them, along with other relevant sanctions regimes, which obligate member states to freeze the funds of individuals and entities listed on international sanctions lists.

Freezing of Funds

Under the decision, all banks, financial institutions, and relevant parties in Iraq are required to freeze the movable and immovable assets belonging to the included names, and to prevent any financial or banking transactions with them, either directly or indirectly, until other decisions are issued that necessitate lifting or modifying the freeze, with amendments to the lists published in the official gazette and on the website of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Office.

A government official stated that the measure comes as part of Baghdad's efforts to align its legal and regulatory framework with the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Iraq's international commitments in combating terrorism and drying up its financial sources, while continuing to update the national lists according to the amendments received from the sanctions committees in the Security Council.

Iraq's Position on Wars

Since 2003, Iraqi governments have tried to maintain an official distance from the conflict in Yemen and the confrontation between Israel and armed groups, often limiting themselves to calling for political solutions and de-escalation.

Special reports indicate that the Houthis opened an office in Baghdad in recent years to expand coordination with Iraqi factions, before these activities faced American and international pressures that prompted Baghdad to commit to restricting them.

With the outbreak of the Gaza war, the idea of "unity of fronts" within armed groups has become more prominent, and Iraqi armed factions and the Houthis announced a series of joint operations using drones and missiles targeting sites in Israel and maritime navigation, while other factions organized public donation campaigns in support of the Houthis, presenting themselves as part of a single front extending from Baghdad to Sana'a and Beirut.

Iraq's Position on Hezbollah

As for the Lebanese Hezbollah, the relationship is situated within the same framework, as influential Iraqi armed factions rely on Hezbollah's military and organizational experience. In recent years, the U.S. Treasury has documented Iraqi networks accused of smuggling oil to sanctioned countries as Iraqi oil or laundering money for one of the countries and Hezbollah through front companies and government contracts, leading to the inclusion of Iraqi businessmen and companies on sanctions lists under the pretext of supporting groups that Washington classifies as "terrorist."