ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s interior ministry on Monday denied claims that a project to merge the national identification card with the residency card had been awarded to a Syrian company. A lawmaker claimed the company is linked to Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa.
In a statement, the interior ministry said the claim “is devoid of truth and has no connection to reality,” stressing that management of the civil information system “is purely national” and handled entirely by staff of the Directorate of Civil Status, Passports and Residence.
The denial followed a claim by Iraqi lawmaker Mustafa Jabar Sanad, who said in a Sunday post on X that the caretaker government planned to refer the project to “a Syrian company owned by one of Jolani’s friends,” alleging the issue was on Tuesday’s cabinet agenda. Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is Sharaa’s nom de guerre.
“The database will be with the company, and the citizen will bear the cost,” Sanad claimed.
The ministry said the “technical company implementing the project is Veridos, the German company,” and added that the firm had obtained all required security approvals and has accompanied the project since its launch.
Hours before the ministry’s statement, Sanad said the government would deny his claims, insisting he was aware of the details of the issue. He added that the caretaker government “has no right to award any contract whatsoever” and called for the cancellation of an alleged contract.
In mid-December, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court limited the authority of the outgoing parliament and cabinet to handling only non-postponable daily affairs until the new legislature is seated, barring them from signing international agreements or finalizing major contracts.
According to its website, Veridos describes itself as a global provider of integrated identity solutions trusted by governments in more than 100 countries. The company says it has signed a contract with Iraq’s interior ministry to build and operate a production site for Iraqi security documents, with the entire production process remaining “in Iraqi hands.”
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