FRANK26: "1310 IS NOT FINANCIAL INTEGRITY... REALIZE THAT!!!"...........F26
Qi and K2 Integrity to Elevate Iraq's Financial Standards
24th June 2025
By John Lee.
Qi (International Smart Card), Iraq's largest electronic payment platform, has announced that it has entered into a landmark partnership with K2 Integrity (K2i), a US-based global financial integrity and compliance advisory firm. The multi-year collaboration aims to align Iraq's financial infrastructure with international standards in anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT).
The partnership spans operations in the UAE, Jordan, and Iraq. A major compliance back office will be established in Jordan, fully integrated into Qi's ecosystem, while the UAE office will serve as an innovation hub.
Flour factory
ISC Chairman Bahaa Abdul Hadi described the initiative as part of a broader national mission:
"This is not just about one business group. This is about Iraq and its economic future ... we are investing heavily to ensure our systems, people, and partners meet the highest global standards of financial integrity."
The partnership spans a 36-month roadmap split into three phases, where K2 Integrity will perform the following strategic tasks.
Evaluate and transform Qi's current financial crime compliance (FCC) framework.
Train Qi's personnel across all levels-from frontline staff to executive leadership.
Take operational responsibility for implementing globally benchmarked compliance practices.
Transition the program into a sustainable, best-in-class model eventually managed by Qi.
According to a press release, this initiative marks a pivotal milestone in Iraq's compliance evolution, strengthening national capabilities and building a foundation for secure, scalable financial growth; it positions Iraq to regain credibility with international partners, attract investment, and enable more secure, scalable cross-border transactions, particularly vital for trade, remittances, and financial inclusion.
Iraq is talking about changing the exchange rate publicly
Each $1 would equal 1.32 Iraqi dinar
We know damn well it will be higher than that
But they’re talking now about deleting the 000
Despite its territorial defeat in Iraq and later in Syria, ISIS continues to exploit security vacuums and volatile geographies to stage sporadic attacks, particularly across remote border regions and rugged terrains. While the organization no longer wields the influence it once held during its peak in 2014–2017, recent developments suggest it is actively repositioning itself for relevance rather than resurgence.
Strategic Shift and Tactical Resurgence
Compared to its peak in mid-2014—when ISIS captured large parts of Nineveh, Saladin, Al-Anbar, and portions of Diyala and Kirkuk—the group’s current capabilities are considerably reduced. Iraq declared victory over ISIS in late 2017, reclaiming nearly one-third of its territory once held by the group.
In Syria, the group's territorial hold collapsed in March 2019 after the fall of Baghouz Fawqani, following a prolonged battle with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
While territorial control may have ended, ISIS’s threat has morphed into a covert, transnational challenge driven by decentralized cells and ideological offshoots. Over the past three years, ISIS has adjusted its tactics to capitalize on emerging regional shifts, particularly the political and military upheavals in Syria.
A noticeable uptick in attacks has been recorded, underscored by the suicide bombing that targeted Mar Elias Church in Damascus's al-Dweila area.
In 2024 alone, ISIS conducted 491 operations in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which noted that the group took advantage of persistent instability to regroup.
The Soufan Center corroborated this trend, estimating that ISIS attacks tripled in 2024 compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, a statement from US Central Command (CENTCOM) in July confirmed ISIS had carried out 153 attacks across Iraq and Syria in the first half of 2024 alone, an alarming increase reflecting what CENTCOM described as the group’s attempt to "reshape itself after years of diminished capability."
As 2025 reaches its midpoint, ISIS is once again activating its sleeper cells along the porous Iraqi-Syrian border. However, this activity remains limited in scale and lacks the broader operational momentum necessary for a major comeback.
According to multiple security studies, ISIS’s operational core has shifted, with a greater focus on Africa and parts of Asia, rather than Iraq or Syria. Notably, Wilayat Khorasan, the ISIS branch based in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, has emerged as its most lethal wing.
The group has been widely blamed for recent high-casualty attacks in Moscow and Kerman, Iran. In Africa, ISIS maintains five active branches in regions including the Lake Chad Basin, northern Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Iraq’s Containment
The containment of ISIS activity owes much to sustained counterterrorism efforts by Iraqi security forces, Kurdish Peshmerga units, and Global Coalition partners. In June alone, Iraqi and coalition forces conducted more than seven targeted operations—both aerial and ground-based—against ISIS cells in northern Iraq.
Ali Neama al-Bandawi, a member of Iraq’s Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee, told Shafaq News that ISIS “no longer poses a systemic threat,” emphasizing that “only scattered individuals and small cells remain.”
He noted effective coordination between Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga in disputed areas as a key factor preventing any significant ISIS resurgence.
Security expert Mukhlid Hazem al-Darib told Shafaq News that “the Iraqi-Syrian border is secured by a three-layer surveillance system, including aerial monitoring and real-time tracking.” While acknowledging that “no system is foolproof,” al-Darib expressed confidence in Iraq’s ability to thwart infiltration attempts, citing both the physical security measures and “societal rejection” of extremist actors.
Political analyst Mujashaa al-Tamimi echoed this assessment. Speaking to Shafaq News, he stressed that “Iraq today is not the same as during the previous phase of security collapse,” citing a more advanced intelligence infrastructure and “real-time border control.”
Al-Tamimi also pointed to the technical and intelligence support provided by the US-led coalition, which enables preemptive action against suspected ISIS movements. “The environment now is far more resilient and responsive to emerging threats,” al-Tamimi concluded, making a wide-scale comeback by ISIS sleeper cells “unlikely.”
Internal Barriers to Revival
Political analyst Mohammed Nanaa emphasized that ISIS today faces significant obstacles in rebuilding its networks inside Iraq. “Unlike before, the group can no longer recruit locals easily,” he said, attributing this shift to the erosion of ISIS's social appeal and the improved awareness among communities previously targeted by its propaganda.
Nanaa further argued that the broader regional context is increasingly hostile to any renewed insurgency. “The prevailing climate across the region favors peace and investment, not conflict,” he noted, adding that both regional and international stakeholders are keen to prevent any resurgence of violence that could derail economic and geopolitical recalibrations underway.
The group’s lack of broad recruitment capabilities, improved counterterrorism coordination, and societal resistance, “all suggest that Iraq is unlikely to return to the conditions that enabled ISIS’s rise in 2014,” Nanaa concluded.
The recent 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel had a dual economic impact on Iraq, leaving the country at a neutral point between gains and losses, Mudhhir Mohammed Saleh, the financial and economic adviser to the Iraqi government, stated on Thursday.
Describing the war’s impact as a “double-edged shock” to the national economy, Saledh noted that on the positive side, oil prices saw a short-term premium of 6 to 7 percent per barrel, benefiting Iraq’s revenues without disrupting exports.
“This price premium generated an estimated $150 to $160 million in additional revenues over a short period,” Saleh told Shafaq News, assuming a daily export volume of 3.3 million barrels. “Exports continued uninterrupted despite
threats of Gulf closures.”
However, Saleh pointed out that Iraq also faced significant negative economic effects. These included higher import costs due to disruptions in maritime insurance markets, global price fluctuations, increased shipping expenses, losses in air transport, supply chain delays, forgone airspace transit fees, and a sharp decline in religious tourism during the conflict.
“The indirect losses roughly equaled the additional oil revenue,” he said, “leaving the Iraqi economy in a state of neutral uncertainty — neither a clear profit nor a net financial loss.”
He cautioned against relying on such temporary windfalls when shaping long-term policy. “This kind of wartime profit cannot support sustainable economic planning,” Saleh said, urging the government to establish a sovereign emergency fund to absorb future shocks and reduce pressure on public spending.
He also recommended developing at least four independent oil export routes to bolster economic resilience.
%2011.00.23%E2%80%AFa.m..png)