Baghdad

Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council President Faiq Zidan chaired a security and judicial meeting to establish a unified position on the cases of foreign detainees and convicted individuals transferred from Syria to Iraq.

The meeting agreed to handle each case in accordance with bilateral agreements, Iraqi law, and the principle of reciprocity.

It was also decided that the National Center for International Judicial Cooperation would examine any international assistance initiatives.

What does this mean?

The new judicial approach reflects greater openness to international coordination while maintaining, at least formally, the principle of judicial sovereignty.

However, it also carries a clear political message: Iraq appears increasingly prepared to engage with Western-led legal mechanisms for managing the cases of Syrian and foreign alleged terrorists, potentially within broader political and economic arrangements.

Double Standards: Between Strictness and Flexibility

Faiq Zidan’s recent moves point to a significant shift:

• Position toward the “Resistance”: The Iraqi judiciary issued harsh sentences of up to 15 years in prison against Popular Mobilization Forces members accused of targeting the U.S. Embassy, invoking Article 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Law.

This is notable compared with previous years, when convictions involving PMF factions were relatively rare or difficult to enforce.

• Position toward Syrian detainees: Their cases are being handled through a regulated international mechanism, suggesting that the Iraqi judiciary is becoming part of broader regional arrangements involving Western powers and forces opposed to the Resistance.

• Flexibility toward al-Jolani and Trump: By contrast, Zidan has met with al-Jolani in Damascus to discuss “judicial cooperation,” despite the outstanding in-absentia death sentence against him.

Likewise, the arrest warrant for Donald Trump is no longer raised in meetings with U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who has increasingly become a regular visitor to the Judicial Council.

This contrast points to a broader strategic transformation: the Iraqi judiciary appears to be moving from its role as a “safety valve” toward becoming an instrument of political accommodation with Washington, placing the judiciary increasingly at the center of Iraq’s wider geopolitical struggle.