ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq's state-run media regulator, acting in coordination with the country's primary domestic intelligence agency, shut down multiple offices belonging to Korek Telecom in Baghdad on Thursday, citing measures against the Erbil-based company over its alleged violations of contractual obligations and financial commitments.
The Communications and Media Commission (CMC) said in a statement that it carried out "field measures," closing "a number of Korek Telecom's sites in Baghdad" - specifically its sales centers in the al-Arasat, al-Mansour and Palestine Street districts, as well as its main headquarters in the Jadriyah district - in coordination with the Iraqi National Security Service (INSS).
The steps "fall within the framework of implementing the decisions and regulatory measures taken against the company," specifically the "legal and regulatory" measures pertaining to "suspending the company's operations," the CMC added.
"The Commission affirms that it will continue to take the necessary measures to implement its decisions in accordance with the applicable legal and regulatory frameworks, ensuring the preservation of the state's rights, the public interest, and the rights of telecommunications service users," the statement concluded.
The CMC and Korek have been locked in a years-long legal dispute that escalated in June, when the regulator announced the expiration of Korek's operating license and cancelled a 2025 settlement agreement over alleged breaches of contractual obligations and financial commitments.
Iraqi lawmaker Zahra al-Bajari said in January 2025 that Korek owed the regulator over $1.5 billion - a figure the company disputes, maintaining that the CMC has no authority to cancel the settlement.
Prior to that, disruptions to Korek's services began in late 2023, when the CMC launched enforcement actions over unpaid financial obligations, cutting the company's internet services outside the Kurdistan Region and blocking interconnected calls with competing networks across Iraq.
Thursday's measures came hours after Sirwan Barzani, chairman of Korek Telecom's board of directors, denounced the CMC's decisions against his company as "illegal" and "implemented outside of regulatory frameworks," adding that the company had "taken legal measures in three Iraqi courts."
Earlier in August, Korek had accused the CMC of taking "successive arbitrary measures motivated by the political movement to which its management belongs,” appealing directly to Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to intervene.
The Thursday measures also came a day after the Commission on Wednesday issued a circular urging Korek subscribers who rely on their numbers to verify digital services to "take the necessary precautionary measures to ensure continued access to accounts and digital services" by registering alternative numbers.
RELATED: Iraq telecom regulator urges Korek users to secure backup numbers for account access
