BAGHDAD, Iraq - Arrest warrants have been issued for senior officials in the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani for their involvement in running a wiretapping network uncovered inside the government palace in Baghdad last week, Iraqi officials familiar with the investigation told The New Region.

Sudani’s military secretary Lieutenant General Abdul Karim al-Sudani, Sudani’s office manager Ihsan al-Awadi, and Ahmed Ibrahim al-Sudani, the office manager of the head of the intelligence service that Sudani runs, are the most prominent of those against whom arrest warrants were issued.

Iraqi authorities announced last week that they had uncovered a “wiretapping and blackmail” network operating inside the government palace where Sudani carries out his daily work. Its work targeted top senior political leaders, MPs, senior officials, judges, and businessmen, according to sources familiar to the investigation.

Seven suspects have been arrested so far, the most prominent of whom is Mohammed Juhi, the assistant director of the administrative department in the Prime Minister's Office.

The revelation of a wiretapping network operating inside the Prime Minister's office is considered the biggest scandal to hit Sudani since he took office in October 2022.

If Sudani is proven to be directly involved in the activities of this network, this could cost him his position as Prime Minister and end his political ambitions for the future.

The new arrest warrants were issued by Ali Jafat, the intelligence judge who is overseeing the investigation, based on information provided by the arrested suspects, indicating their involvement in running the network, which consisted of three National Security Service officers, two Intelligence Service officers, and two employees from Sudani’s office, one of whom was Juhi, Iraqi officials familiar with the investigation told The New Region.

The information-extracted from the arrested suspects suggest that the network was managed with the knowledge, approval, and guidance of Sudani, and that more than 30 voice prints of Sudani and hundreds of messages exchanged between Sudani and Juhi were found on the latter’s phone, sources said.

“The information indicates that the network was operating with the knowledge and approval of Sudani personally and was managed by senior employees of his private office,” a senior official told The New Region.

“We found hundreds of conversations on Juhi’s phone directly linking Sudani to the network’s operations, the employees, and officers who ran it,” he said.

Another senior official at Sudani office told The New Region that the network was formed during the government of former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, but that Sudani, at the suggestion of one of Juhi’s comrades about a year ago, “developed its work” and created a special department linked to the administrative department to follow up on the work of the MPs, “but Sudani took the matter to extremes.”

The arrest warrants were issued on Thursday, but their implementation requires the approval of the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zidan.

Tensions between Zidan and Sudani have been at its highest for months as both seek to dominate the Iraqi political scene.

Although Ammar al-Hakim, leader of the Hikma Movement and one of the key leaders of the ruling Coordination Framework, is leading efforts to de-escalate the tension between Zidan and Sudani in an attempt to cancel or postpone the arrest warrants, other leaders are yet to meet and discuss the issue pending the results of the investigation, Shiite leaders told The New Region.

“The final word will be with the judiciary. If the judiciary proves that Sudani was directly involved, this is a scandal, and they will have to deal with the repercussions and consider their options,” a Shiite leader told The New Region.

The source added that if it is proven that this network was operating without the knowledge and consent of Sudani, this too would be a major breach and its repercussions will also be discussed within the Coordination Framework.

“Whatever the outcome, what happened is a major blow to the Shiite forces because they are the ones who brought Sudani,” he said. “The judiciary’s decision will determine the next step for the leaders of the Coordination Framework."