Community Trust ScoreVerified
The Treasury went after Iraq’s number-two oil guy on Thursday. Ali Maarij Al-Bahadly got hit with sanctions for allegedly running Iraqi crude to Iran through a smuggling network that mixed barrels, forged papers, and used militia muscle to move oil. And federal investigators are now looking at $2.6 billion in oil trades that landed right before the White House made Iran announcements public.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control didn’t mess around. It froze assets belonging to Al-Bahadly, three senior militia commanders, and four oil-services firms accused of helping the operation. Al-Bahadly’s been Iraq’s Deputy Oil Minister since 2018, which gave him access to export terminals and documentation systems. Treasury says he used that access to help Salim Ahmed Said, an Iran-linked smuggler, and the Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq militia move Iranian crude disguised as Iraqi oil through the VS Oil Terminal.
How the Smuggling Worked
The scheme was pretty straightforward but effective. Iranian crude got mixed with Iraqi barrels at the VS Oil Terminal. Export documents were forged to make the oil look like it came from Iraq. The militia provided security and logistics. Al-Bahadly allegedly provided the official cover and access needed to pull it off without raising red flags at Iraqi government checkpoints.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran’s regime is exploiting Iraq’s resources. The sanctions target people who’ve been doing this since at least 2018, according to the designation documents. Executive Order 13902 gave OFAC the authority to freeze their U.S. assets and ban Americans from doing business with them.
The move fits into Operation Economic Fury, a broader Treasury campaign aimed at choking off Tehran’s money flows. That operation already froze $344 million in Tether and seized nearly half a billion in crypto tied to Iranian networks. The crypto seizures happened earlier this year and targeted wallets linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated groups.
Suspicious Oil Trades Draw Federal Scrutiny
But the oil story gets weirder. The Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are digging into four massive bearish oil trades that happened right before major Iran conflict announcements in 2026. The trades totaled $2.6 billion in profits. The timing was suspiciously precise.
A $500 million trade landed 15 minutes before the White House announced a March 23 strike delay. Someone put down $960 million right before an April 7 ceasefire got announced. Another $760 million position appeared ahead of Iran’s April 17 Hormuz announcement. And a $430 million trade hit the books before the April 21 truce extension became public.
Nobody’s been named yet. The CFTC didn’t identify the traders, and the DOJ hasn’t filed charges. But the pattern looks familiar to anyone who’s followed cases where traders profited from non-public government information. The trades were bearish bets—meaning someone knew oil prices would drop when the announcements came out.
The investigation raises uncomfortable questions about who knew what and when. Did someone inside the administration leak Trump’s Iran decisions before they went public? Or did traders just get really, really lucky four times in a row? The odds of that seem pretty slim.
Market watchers noted the trades happened during critical moments in the Iran standoff. Each announcement moved oil prices significantly. Someone with advance knowledge could’ve made exactly these kinds of bets and walked away with billions. The CFTC’s looking at trading records, communications, and who had access to sensitive information about the president’s decisions.
Operation Economic Fury Expands
The Al-Bahadly sanctions are part of Treasury’s bigger push under Operation Economic Fury. That campaign started targeting Iran’s financial networks after tensions escalated in 2025. The crypto seizures were the highest-profile part of the operation so far, but Treasury’s been quietly building cases against oil smugglers and front companies for months.
The three militia leaders sanctioned alongside Al-Bahadly haven’t been publicly named in Treasury documents available to reporters. The four oil-services companies are also still being identified. OFAC sometimes delays releasing full details while investigations continue, so more names could come out later.
Iraq’s government didn’t comment on the sanctions. Al-Bahadly still holds his position as Deputy Oil Minister, though the asset freeze makes it hard for him to do international business. The sanctions don’t automatically remove him from office—that’s up to Baghdad.
The VS Oil Terminal where the smuggling allegedly happened is one of Iraq’s major export points. Mixing Iranian and Iraqi crude there would’ve required cooperation from terminal operators, shipping companies, and probably some Iraqi officials beyond just Al-Bahadly. Treasury’s designation suggests the network was bigger than just one deputy minister.
The DOJ and CFTC investigations are ongoing. Federal prosecutors haven’t said when they expect to wrap up the oil-trading probe or whether charges are coming. The $2.6 billion figure represents gross profits from the four trades, not necessarily what any individual trader kept. Some of that money could’ve been institutional positions or hedges that just happened to have good timing.
But the timing was really, really good. Fifteen minutes before a strike delay announcement is the kind of precision that makes regulators suspicious. The CFTC has subpoena power and can demand trading records, emails, and phone logs from anyone involved in commodity markets. If someone did leak information, the paper trail will probably show it.
The crypto seizures under Operation Economic Fury froze $344 million in USDT specifically. Tether’s the most widely used stablecoin and Iran-linked networks have used it to move money while avoiding traditional banking sanctions. Treasury’s been getting better at tracking crypto flows, which is bad news for sanctioned regimes trying to use digital assets as a workaround.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Ali Maarij Al-Bahadly and why was he sanctioned?
Al-Bahadly is Iraq’s Deputy Oil Minister. Treasury sanctioned him for allegedly helping smuggle Iranian crude oil through Iraqi export terminals since 2018 using forged documents and militia support.
What are investigators looking at in the oil trading probe?
The DOJ and CFTC are investigating $2.6 billion in bearish oil trades placed minutes before major Iran conflict announcements in 2026, suggesting possible insider information leaks.
