“Iraqi Gazette” issues a new edition and removes Hezbollah and the Houthis from “terrorist lists”
“Iraqi Gazette” issues a new edition and removes Hezbollah and the Houthis from “terrorist lists”
2025-12-09 06:09
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The Iraqi Ministry of Justice announced on Tuesday the release of the new issue of the Iraqi Gazette, No. (4852), which included a number of decisions, instructions and statements, most notably the removal of the Yemeni Houthi group and the Lebanese Hezbollah from the “terrorist lists” after they were included in the decision of the Committee for Freezing Terrorist Funds in the previous issue.
Haifa Shukr Mahmoud, Director General of the Iraqi Gazette Department, said in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency that “the issue included the issuance of a decision by the Committee for Freezing Terrorist Funds No. (64) of 2025, instructions for preserving documents in the Independent High Electoral Commission No. (1) of 2025, and instructions for facilitating procedures and transactions for the families of martyrs in the Federal Integrity Commission No. (2) of 2025.”
The Director General added that “the issue also included instructions No. (3) of 2025 to facilitate the implementation of the provisions of the Law on the Rights of the Martyrs of the Crime at the Martyr Pilot Majid Al-Tamimi Air Base No. (12) of 2019, and a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance No. (6) of 2025.”
The text of the decision to remove the Yemeni Houthi group and the Lebanese Hezbollah from the “terrorist lists,” published by Shafaq News Agency below, states that “the Committee for Freezing Terrorist Funds decided in its second extraordinary session to remove the sequences (18-19) mentioned in the list referred to in paragraph (First/B) of the Committee for Freezing Terrorist Funds Decision (61 of 2025), as they were not covered by the provisions of the decision, as its content is limited to the names and entities associated with ISIS and Al-Qaeda.”
Mustafa Jabbar Sand, the winning candidate in the recent parliamentary elections, announced in a Facebook post last Sunday that the “Freezing Terrorist Funds” committee had decided to remove the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Yemeni Houthi group from the sanctions list.
The Iraqi authorities – the Committee for Freezing Terrorist Funds – have included the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group in Yemen on their lists, in implementation of a package of Security Council resolutions on combating terrorism and its financing, according to what was stated in issue 4848 of the Iraqi Gazette issued on November 17, 2025.
The Iraqi authorities quickly reversed this decision to include the organization, after publishing an official clarification and a document issued by the Central Bank of Iraq confirming that Baghdad’s approval was limited to entities and individuals linked exclusively to ISIS and al-Qaeda.
The outgoing Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, also directed that an “urgent” investigation be conducted into the decision, which sparked widespread controversy in political circles, especially those that support the so-called “axis of resistance” in the country.
Legal experts confirmed to Shafaq News Agency that it is legal to correct any decision published in the Iraqi Gazette, but they explained that the decision to classify the Yemeni Houthi group and the Lebanese Hezbollah as “terrorist organizations” was based on the classification of the UN Security Council, which is internationally binding.
shafaq.com
