Oil smuggling crackdown in Kataib Hezbollah heartland; Jurf Al-Sakher sits at the crossroads of government action and Iran-backed militia influence in Iraq.
The Iraqi prime minister has ordered a judiciary referral for those involved in oil smuggling and has dismissed nine officials after an investigation into illicit refineries in Jurf al-Sakhar, a Kataib Hezbollah stronghold south of Baghdad. Tehran-aligned groups face pressure as Baghdad seeks to bring militias under state control amid broader US-Iran tensions.