Al-Fartousi: The face of maritime corruption in Iraq, supported by the highest levels
Al-Fartousi: The face of maritime corruption in Iraq, supported by the highest levels
7-8-2025
Information / Baghdad..
While the Iraqi government seeks to announce economic reforms and combat corruption, dark files within sensitive state institutions are once again resurfacing, most notably Iraq’s ports. According to parliamentary sources, these ports have become a front for political influence and dubious deals, run by a controversial general manager, Farhan al-Fartousi.
At the heart of this controversy is a statement to Al-Maalouma News Agency, issued by the Parliamentary Economic and Investment Committee, in which the committee’s chairman, MP Yasser Al-Husseini, makes explicit and serious accusations against Al-Fartousi, alleging his involvement in passing dubious contracts with the approval and protection of the country’s highest executive authorities.
According to Al-Husseini, the ports management has become a “quasi-private company,” with Al-Fartousi concluding partnership and operating contracts with specific companies individually, without consulting any regulatory or legislative body, even for secondary services such as health complexes within the ports.
Al-Husseini said in a statement to Al-Maalouma Agency: “Al-Fartousi has left no room for the state to be effective within the ports. He has even transferred the health complexes to companies through joint operating contracts. He seeks to control all bodies and institutions within the ports, imposing mandatory partnership contracts on them without referring to the regulatory or legislative authorities.”
According to parliamentary sources, these contracts are worth billions of dinars and are awarded to companies, some of which are newly established or unqualified. This deprives the state of significant resources that could be utilized amid the country’s crippling financial crisis.
What is striking about this case is not only the contracting mechanism, but also the political protection Al-Fartousi enjoys, which Al-Husseini described as direct government cover, bypassing all limits of legal accountability or parliamentary oversight.
Al-Hussaini added, “Al-Fartousi concludes these contracts unilaterally, binding them to important entities such as border crossings, tax authorities, and customs. This expansion falls within a policy of weakening government institutions and transforming them into profit-making tools in the hands of certain companies.”
He continued, “Political forces, including the prime minister, are behind Al-Fartousi, covering up his corruption and supporting him in concluding contracts that raise many question marks.”
Despite repeated warnings from the Integrity and Economy Committees, the absence of any official government action against Farhan al-Fartousi confirms, according to observers, an implicit political understanding not to reopen this case, given its potential entanglements that could implicate senior government officials.
Experts point out that the continuation of such behavior directly threatens what little trust citizens have left in state institutions and weakens the government’s ability to implement its reform and anti-corruption agenda.
Iraqi ports, most notably Umm Qasr and the Grand Faw Ports, represent a strategic economic artery for Iraq, as most import and export operations pass through them, making them a tempting target for political influence and illicit commercial interests.
Parliamentarians believe that transforming these ports into “closed investment farms” in the hands of companies affiliated with influential parties constitutes a direct threat to national economic security, requiring a transparent investigation and removing economic issues from any political cover.
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