Al-Walai criticizes US control over “Iraqi funds” and calls for diversifying markets and banking relationships.
Al-Walai criticizes US control over “Iraqi funds” and calls for diversifying markets and banking relationships.
2026-08-16
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The Secretary-General of the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades, Abu Ala al-Walai, criticized on Sunday the American dominance over Iraq’s economic resources and assets, calling for liberation from it through diversifying markets and the network of economic relations.
Al-Walai said in a post on the “X” platform that one of the clearest aspects of Iraq’s diminished sovereignty is America’s economic domination of it, its occupation and control over its money literally, and its complete control over its wealth, asking: Do the free people of dear Iraq accept that its wealth be treated as if it were a gift given to it, and not an inherent sovereign right of its people?
He also asked, “Are we asking for too much if we want to break free from American financial and economic hegemony, diversify export markets and banking networks, and build an economy that owns its decisions, wealth, and trade routes?” He added, “Sovereignty is not completed by controlling the land alone, but by possessing political, economic, and financial decision-making power, free from the hegemony of any external power.”
It is worth noting that the US State Department had listed the “Sayyid al-Shuhada” Brigades as a terrorist organization, and announced last April a financial reward of up to $10 million for information about “Abu Ala al-Walai”, accusing him of being behind attacks targeting US interests and bases in Iraq and Syria.
In contrast, the brigades are classified as part of the General Authority for the Popular Mobilization Forces and the Coordination Framework, and considered the American decision an attempt to exert political pressure on the Iraqi factions.
shafaq.com
