Militia smuggle 40,000 barrels of oil to Iran daily

Popular Mobilization militia in Iraq smuggle 40,000 barrels of oil that’s produced in north Iraq to Iran every day and before the eyes of governmental forces, media sources revealed.

A governmental source speaking on condition of anonymity told BasNews that Popular Mobilization forces seized oil fields which have 21 oil wells between Tuz Khurmatu and Tekrit.

According to the source, Popular Mobilization forces transfer the oil in tanks to Iran and pass through Iraqi military inspection points in the Salaheddine and Diyala governments. He added that tens of tanks are sent to Iran everyday where they are sold for less than the oil price agreed on in the oil market.

Iranian media sources have revealed that Tehran seeks to export 4 million barrels of oil a day however Iranian experts said the oil production in Iran does not exceed 3.8 million barrels a day.

Earlier this week, Salaheddine governor Ahmad Abdullah al-Jabouri called for protecting the oil fields of Aalas and Ojeil east of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, and condemned the fields’ exploitation by certain parties amid the lack of the government’s supervision.

Local sources in Iraq said the revenues of smuggling oil to Iran goes to Shiite groups which fight alongside the Popular Mobilization forces and to some politicians in support of the Iraqi government.

The Iraqi ministry of oil has not yet responded to any of these claims.

A source in Iraq said that the Salaheddine governorate and the ministry of oil are aware that oil is being smuggled to Iran yet they say nothing about this because Shiite militias are the ones who truly rule the governorate.

*This article can also be viewed in Arabic on AlArabiya.net