Just days after Iraqi PM Ali al-Zaidi returned from a 5-day official visit to the U.S. where he met Trump and signed dozens of economic agreements, Ali Akbar Velayati, the Iranian supreme leader's senior adviser on international affairs, denounced the trip as "a badge of shame."

Iraqi PM Ali al-Zaidi has placed himself at the center of a high-stakes political and security test after pledging to President Donald Trump that he would disarm the country's militias and dismantle what is known as the "resistance" within two months.

Ali al-Kurdi is now widely described as one of the key fugitives in the sprawling oil refinery contracts case, regarded as one of the largest corruption scandals to hit Iraq's oil sector in recent years.

A sweeping anti-corruption campaign led by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has ignited a fierce debate across Iraq after it brought down a number of figures accused of corruption while leaving others untouched.

Since PM Ali al-Zaidi formed his government, Iraqi authorities have arrested several influential figures on corruption charges, reviving questions over whether the state can finally dismantle a system entrenched since 2003.