Iraq: UN Security Council should act immediately to stop the theft of Baiji refinery equipment by Iran

Iraq: UN Security Council should act immediately to stop the theft of Baiji refinery equipment by Iran

Wednesday, 23 December 2015  EIFA

Brussels- 23 December 2015

Iraq: UN Security Council should act immediately to stop the theft of Baiji refinery equipment by Iran

Following the defeat of the Daesh (ISIS) terrorists and their forced retreat from the city of Baiji in northern Iraq, the Iranian-led militias quickly took control of the area. As a result, the Baiji oil refinery, the biggest in Iraq, is currently being dismantled and transferred to Iran. Many technicians from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, on the pretext of rebuilding the refinery, have gone to Baiji to organize this massive theft.

In addition to the equipment, the militias are looting the heavy construction machinery and electric cables, as well as the private property of the residents in this area. Part of this property is being sold in Iraqi markets while the rest is being transferred to Iran.

In the past week, the Iraqi media reported that: “Iranian experts have reached the Baiji refinery and are busy dismantling the equipment. Everyday trucks are taking the equipment out of the Baiji refinery to Iran via Diyala Province”.

The systematic looting of the Baiji refinery follows the recent incursion of over 500,000 Iranians into Iraq, through the border at Zarbatiye, without passports or visas, in open violation of Iraqi sovereignty, on the pretext that they were on a religious pilgrimage.  These events demonstrate clearly the Iranian regime’s intention completely to dominate and subjugate Iraq, a grave matter that threatens the stability and strategic balance of the region and endangers world peace and security.

It is very clear that such dangerous, aggressive measures by Tehran would not be possible without the full support of the Iranian-affiliated militias and forces still under the control of the former criminal Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA) calls on government of Iraq and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi immediately to expel the Iranian regime and its agents from Iraq and once again reminds the UN Security Council of the need to act to stop such flagrant breaches of Iraqi dignity and sovereignty.

Struan Stevenson

Struan Stevenson is President of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA) He was a UK Conservative Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014 and was President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq from 2009-2014.