Iraq’s political establishment woke up to a sweeping anti-corruption campaign on Sunday morning, as newly appointed Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered extensive arrests of politicians and officials in central Baghdad. Executing warrants issued by the Iraqi judiciary, the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) detained 67 senior politicians and government officials. Several parliamentarians affiliated with former prime minister Mohammed al-Sudani’s coalition were arrested, as was Muthanna al-Samarrai, leader of the Sunni Azm party. The charges reportedly stem from confessions by former deputy oil minister, Adnan al-Jumaili, who was detained on corruption allegations in May. 

Combatting endemic corruption has long been a declared priority of incoming Iraqi premiers. Successive prime ministers have launched similar campaigns on taking office, but these initiatives rarely amounted to more than political signalling. Whether this campaign will be different remains to be seen. On the one hand, the scale of the latest arrests is remarkable and Zaidi appears intent on conveying that even members of the country’s political leadership will be held accountable. On the other hand, the campaign has so far targeted only second and third-tier politicians and officials, suggesting a reluctance to unsettle the uppermost echelons of Iraq’s political elite.

The reaction from Iraq’s most influential political actors reinforces this impression. Former prime ministers Nouri al-Maliki and Mohammed al-Sudani have publicly endorsed the campaign even though some of those detained are political affiliates, if not members, of their own coalitions. One former parliamentarian told Crisis Group that they had “willingly sacrificed a few of their own” – seemingly on the understanding that this will give them a measure of protection. The arrests may therefore represent a carefully calibrated effort to demonstrate accountability without threatening the broader political order.

The audience for Zaidi’s campaign includes U.S. President Donald Trump, whom the Iraqi premier is expected to meet during a mid-July visit to Washington. The new Iraqi government has come under considerable pressure from the Trump administration to tackle corruption, particularly schemes that facilitate Iran’s evasion of U.S. sanctions through Iraq’s financial institutions and oil sector. Zaidi is keen to demonstrate his willingness to take bold action. Among those detained is an oil ministry official designated by the U.S. Treasury for allegedly having facilitated the diversion of oil revenues for the benefit of Iran and its Iraqi allies.

Iraq has earned a reputation for impunity when it comes to corruption. Perhaps most visibly, Nour Zuhair, the principal suspect in a scandal involving the embezzlement of $2.5 billion in tax revenues (known in Iraq as “the heist of the century”) was released on bail following his 2022 arrest and fled the country; he was later convicted in absentia and received a ten-year sentence. To be sure, securing a handful of successful prosecutions would constitute a political victory for Zaidi, bolstering both his domestic standing and his credentials in Washington. But whether the campaign will evolve into meaningful reforms that can curb the systematic pillaging of state resources is far less certain.