Table Stakes - June 29th

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I’m Atlas, and welcome to Table Stakes!

Here’s a look at today’s topics:

• Iraqi Forces Arrest Iranian Backed Officials & Politicians In Late Night Raid

• Tens Of Thousands Still Missing From Venezuelan Earthquakes

• Additional 1,000 Deaths Recorded In France Amidst Record Heat Wave

Iraqi Forces Arrest Iranian Backed Officials & Politicians In Late Night Raid

_{By: Atlas}

Iraqi security forces locked down Baghdad's fortified Green Zone overnight into Sunday, raiding the homes of lawmakers and senior officials and arresting dozens in the most aggressive phase yet of a corruption campaign led by the country's new prime minister.

By Sunday afternoon, authorities had detained 47 legislators and officials on corruption charges, a senior government official said through the state news agency, which described the operation as still in progress. Elite units from the Counter-Terrorism Service carried out the raids, moving between private residences inside the district where much of the political class lives.

The Operation

The Green Zone was sealed from late Saturday until the pre-dawn hours of Sunday. Residents reported armored vehicles and masked personnel near the entrances, and footage shared on local Telegram channels showed security forces in tanks and heavy vehicles operating inside the district, in one clip entering a private home.

The Green Zone houses Iraq's parliament, the Council of Ministers, the judiciary, and a number of foreign embassies, including the U.S. mission. A security source said Counter-Terrorism Service units conducted coordinated raids inside the zone and at some adjacent residences, with traffic halted and movement restricted until the operations wrapped up. The campaign extended beyond the district, reaching another neighborhood in the capital and, by some accounts, the headquarters of Midland Oil Company south of Baghdad.

Reports of the number detained varied through the day as the sweep unfolded. Early accounts placed the figure at seven or eight, including members of parliament whose immunity had been lifted, before the state news agency settled on 47. By dawn, checkpoints were gradually reopening, though security remained heavy around the main government compounds.

Who Was Detained

The arrests reached across Iraq's sectarian and political divides. The state news agency named 15 of those taken into custody. Among the most prominent was Muthanna al-Samarrai, a leading Sunni politician who heads the Azm Coalition in parliament, along with the businessman-turned-politician Mohammed al-Karbouli and Hassan al-Khafaji.

Several of those detained came from the Reconstruction and Development Coalition of former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, including the legislators Alia Nusaif and Baha al-Nouri. Authorities also took in al-Sudani's relative and close aide Mohammed al-Sayhood and his adviser Ibrahim al-Sumaidie.

Also among those arrested was Ali Maarij al-Bahadly, Iraq's deputy oil minister for distribution affairs. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned him in May, accusing him of using his post to divert Iraqi oil and blend it with Iranian oil to help Tehran evade American sanctions.

The Reconstruction and Development Coalition publicly backed the government's actions, saying in a statement that its support rested on a firm belief in the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, and on referring corruption cases to the courts away from political considerations.

A Widening Campaign

The raids mark the most assertive stage of an anti-corruption drive that Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has pursued since taking office last month. He has set up specialized investigative committees, empowered the Integrity Commission, and ordered a financial audit of major infrastructure contracts.

Much of the current case traces back to Adnan al-Jumaili, the former deputy oil minister for refining affairs and general director of the state-run North Refineries Company, who was arrested last month in a probe into alleged kickbacks and embezzlement tied largely to refinery contracts. Officials said the latest arrests were based on confessions he provided implicating a wider network. The Integrity Commission said authorities were carrying out judicial warrants against suspects accused of misappropriating public funds.

The financial figures attached to the Jumaili case are substantial. Authorities said they seized about $11 million in cash along with another 98 billion Iraqi dinars, worth roughly $63 million, and recovered around 1.5 kilograms of gold, at least 40 properties across Baghdad, Salahuddin, and Erbil, and large quantities of weapons and ammunition.

By deploying the Counter-Terrorism Service, a force that reports directly to the commander-in-chief, the government signaled it intended to bypass routine police procedures in cases viewed as politically sensitive. Iraqi officials have long said previous anti-graft efforts stalled because investigations rarely reached senior political or economic figures.

The Political Backdrop

The timing drew attention on several fronts. Al-Zaidi, a businessman and political newcomer, came to power as a consensus candidate with the backing of the United States, after al-Sudani stepped aside amid a deadlock within the Coordination Framework, the coalition of Shiite parties allied with Iran. Former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose own bid for the premiership was likely blocked by U.S. opposition, congratulated al-Zaidi on the arrests and offered support for efforts to establish justice.

The prime minister is due in Washington next month, and a diplomat in Baghdad described the sweep as part of the preparations for that visit, intended to demonstrate his commitment to his promises. Beyond corruption, a security official said the campaign also targeted the funding of armed factions and the smuggling of dollars and Iranian oil, a reference to Tehran-backed groups that Washington designates as terrorist organizations. The same official said U.S. pressure was central to the effort and that what had happened so far was only the beginning.

The raids coincided with a visit to Baghdad by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who pledged to expand Tehran's cooperation with the new government as it had with previous ones. They also came against the backdrop of renewed regional turmoil, with Iran having struck sites in Bahrain and Kuwait in response to U.S. airstrikes near the Strait of Hormuz.

Al-Zaidi has paired his anti-corruption pledge with a vow to bring all weapons under state control, a goal that aligns with U.S. demands to disarm Iran-aligned militias. Those groups intervened on Tehran's behalf during the recent war, striking U.S. facilities in Iraq, including an ambush on American diplomats in Baghdad. As of Sunday afternoon, the government had issued no formal statement on the arrests, and the Supreme Judicial Council declined to comment on the number of warrants or the charges involved.

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