Iraq's new Prime Minister, Ali al-Zaidi, launched an anti-corruption operation called "Dawn Strike" at the end of June. In the early hours of 28 June, commandos from the Anti-Terrorism Service raided the homes of dozens of members of parliament and government, uncovering safes stacked with tens of millions of dollars and Iraqi dinars.
Among the prominent politicians implicated, MP Alia Nassif stands out. Under the administration of former Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani, she had been one of the most outspoken critics of corruption in the country. Her son, Sajad, also worked as al-Sudani's aide.
Commandos who stormed her residence in Baghdad's Green Zone on the morning of 28 June found approximately $15m in cash, though the investigation was not confined to members of the Shia coalition. The connection between Nassif and al-Sudani, who was replaced by al-Zaidi on 14 April, nonetheless suggests the operation forms part of a broader political purge.
Al Jazeera reports that a total of 47 people have been arrested, among them Muthanna al-Samarrai, leader of the Sunni Al-Azm faction and a key figure in the governing coalition, along with several lawmakers from Reconstruction and Development, the majority Shia coalition.
There were early indications that the operation might carry a sectarian dimension, given that Prime Minister Zaidi is Shia and President Nizar Amidi is Kurdish. It was nonetheless the Sunni Speaker of Parliament, Haibat al-Halbousi, who stripped the lawmakers of their immunity.
Iraq has maintained an unofficial doctrine of sectarianism since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, similar in spirit to Lebanon's system. In Baghdad's case, though, the presidency goes to a candidate from one of the two Kurdish parties, the premiership to a Shia, reflecting the country's demographic majority, and the speakership of parliament to a Sunni.
Some of the arrests trace back to testimony from former Deputy Minister of Oil Adnan al-Jumaili, arrested last month, according to Al Jazeera. The total sum embezzled or paid in bribes has reached $85m, according to sources cited by Gulf News. Zaidi had announced the operation back in May, not long after his election.
Investigators also uncovered an illegal horse stable in one case, the Jerusalem Post reported, adding that Zaidi had planned the crackdown partly under pressure from the United States. Washington's own concerns, meanwhile, centered on the financing of militant groups tied to neighboring Iran.
Parliament includes representatives of several militant movements. Among them is the Badr Organization, a key part of the coalition that brought Zaidi to the prime minister's office. Badr was founded as the militant wing of Khomeini's Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) and later broke away to become an independent force.
While former Transportation Minister Hadi al-Amiri serves as its chairman, Badr's supreme leader is Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a dual loyalty shared by several political-militant groups operating under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), the target of past US efforts to curb Iranian influence.
The PMF began a campaign on 28 February, launching attacks on the US Embassy in Baghdad and on Kurdish militia positions in northern Iraq, aligning itself with Tehran in the US-Iranian war. It nonetheless remains formally part of the Iraqi army and enjoys a degree of public support, owing to its role in defending parts of the country from terrorist attacks after the armed forces collapsed during the fight against the Islamic State in 2014.
Ahead of the 2013 elections, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki brought together several Shia parties and movements, including Badr and the Dawa Party, under the State of Law Coalition, which remains part of the government to this day. The current prime minister, however, now intends to act against several militant groups he suspects of corruption.
Beyond politicians, the investigation has turned to contractors in construction, bridge-building, restaurant and hotel services, and retail. Sources cited by The New Arab say the companies under suspicion feature on a Washington-compiled list of shell companies used by militants to help fund their activities.
Zaidi nonetheless failed to secure parliamentary support for direct action against these groups, despite broad political backing, after the coordinating platform of Shia parties withheld a free hand at Monday's official meeting.
Despite this minor setback, Zaidi has vowed to force pro-Iranian militant groups to disarm, with his cabinet setting 30 September as the deadline for demilitarization. The PMF's official justification for remaining armed is protection against the American presence, which has been active in the country since Hussein's overthrow in 2003.
By dismantling this vast corruption network, the prime minister has dealt a blow to his rivals among the non-state actors answering to another state. Zaidi's aim is to fold these small armed groups into the regular army, an approach Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa applied earlier this year to Kurdish militias in the Euphrates River basin.
Against this backdrop, however, Iraq still appears to be moving toward an era of constitutional institutions capable of cooperating without sectarian tension, according to renowned analyst David Petraeus, writing in the Washington Post. He also raised the possibility that Baghdad could emerge as a counterweight to Tehran, which would mark a new chapter in the history of the Middle East.