ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Tuesday issued a directive calling for reviewing the procedures of the communications ministry in regard to internet smuggling, as well as the contract with Sulaimani-based internet service provider iQ Group.

The Iraqi premier directed the integrity commission to “review and verify the Ministry of Communications’ procedures regarding cases of internet capacity smuggling and the transit capacity agreement with IQ Internet Services,” according to a statement from his office.

The process, to be conducted in coordination with the parliament’s integrity committee, aims to confirm whether the ministry has signed new contracts with iQ, the statement added.

The call from Sudani comes days after MP Hanan al-Fatlawi accused Communication Minister Hayam al-Yasiri of signing a new contract with iQ, enabling the internet provider to “pass transit capacity” for the next 10 years, despite the allegations of bandwidth smuggling made against it.

Fatlawi accused iQ of smuggling internet bandwidth in Kirkuk for over two years, inducing an estimated loss of 991 billion Iraqi dinars, and then refusing to pay the fine imposed upon it by the communications ministry.

The communications ministry denied Fatlawi’s claims of signing a new contract with iQ, saying the company has an investment contract which was signed in 2010 and remains valid, adding that the judiciary has previously acquitted iQ of the capacity smuggling charges.

Internet bandwidth smuggling has been a significant and persistent issue in Kirkuk province for years.