Aras Habib

Aras Habib was born on August 6, 1967, in Baghdad into a wealthy Feyli Kurdish family. His father, Habib Muhammad Karim Feyli, was a former judge and the General-Secretary of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). His family were active members of the KDP and had close ties to the Barzani family.

Following the Iraqi–Kurdish Autonomy Agreement of 1970, Mullah Mustafa Barzani nominated Habib Muhammad Karim Feyli for the position of Vice President of Iraq under Saddam Hussein. However, Saddam rejected the nomination, claiming that Habib was too friendly with the Shah of Iran and west, and instead endorsed Taha Yassin Ramadan, an ethnic Kurd from Mosul. This decision angered Mustafa Barzani, who disputed Saddam’s choice and insisted that Habib should become Iraq’s vice president. This disagreement was one of the conflicts that later contributed to the outbreak of the Second Iraqi–Kurdish War. After the conflict, Aras and his family, together with the Barzanis, went into exile in Iran under the Shah’s protection following their defeat.

Aras Habib, a once influential figure within the Iraqi opposition movement, remains one of the most controversial and widely criticized political personalities in Iraq today. As a key member of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) — the opposition group that operated in exile during Saddam Hussein’s rule — Aras has long been accused of deceit, manipulation, and betrayal by both his political peers and the broader Iraqi public. His complex relationship with Ahmed Chalabi, the late leader of the INC, continues to cast a long shadow over his reputation.

During the 1990s, Aras served as the director of intelligence for the INC, a position that placed him at the heart of the organization’s dealings with foreign governments, most notably the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States. According to numerous accounts, Aras maintained close and often secretive ties with American intelligence officials — at times acting independently and without informing Chalabi about the full extent of his communications or activities. This behavior, many within the INC later claimed, amounted to a serious breach of trust. Critics accused him of betraying Chalabi’s confidence and undermining the INC’s internal cohesion at a crucial moment in its struggle against Saddam’s regime. The rift between Aras and Chalabi became particularly pronounced over their differing visions for Iraq’s liberation. Chalabi strongly favored an internal solution, believing that Saddam Hussein’s regime could be toppled through a military coup led by Iraqis themselves. He consistently warned that a foreign military invasion, particularly one led by the United States, would be perceived by the Iraqi people as an act of occupation rather than liberation. Chalabi argued that such an intervention would destroy the legitimacy of the opposition and leave Iraq’s sovereignty compromised. “A coup from within would preserve Iraq’s dignity,” he reportedly told close associates, insisting that foreign troops on Iraqi soil would turn the opposition into “traitors in the eyes of the people.” Aras, however, rejected this view entirely. He maintained that a domestic uprising or coup would never succeed against Saddam’s entrenched network of security forces and tribal loyalists. According to him, only direct American military intervention could bring about the end of Saddam’s regime. Behind the scenes, Aras reportedly lobbied aggressively in Washington, pushing U.S. officials to take decisive military action. He dismissed Chalabi’s plan as naïve, famously claiming that without American intervention, “Saddam and his family would rule Iraq for 7,000 years.” In the end, Chalabi’s position shifted — under pressure from figures within his inner circle, many of whom were influenced by Aras and his pro-intervention stance. When the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq finally came in 2003, Aras publicly celebrated it as a historic victory for freedom. Yet in the years that followed, as Iraq descended into chaos, sectarian violence, and foreign occupation, public opinion turned sharply against figures like him.

Aras Habib, once a prominent figure within the Iraqi National Congress (INC) and a close ally of the United States, has had a controversial and shifting political trajectory over the past decades. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Habib maintained strong ties with U.S. officials, leveraging his position within the INC and his intelligence background to cooperate with American interests in Iraq. However, over time, disputes emerged between Habib and his former allies in Washington, leading to a noticeable realignment toward Iranian influence.

One of the turning points in this relationship came when Ahmed Chalabi’s connections to the Pentagon, particularly through Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, faced scrutiny. Reports surfaced that some aides within the INC had allegedly supplied sensitive U.S. security information in Baghdad to Iran, prompting the Pentagon to cut off funding to Chalabi and his associates. Aras Habib, as a key figure in Chalabi’s inner circle, was implicated in these controversies, straining his ties with the Americans further. In 2016, the Pentagon publicly accused Habib of financing Hezbollah in Lebanon with $300 million, branding him as an agent of Iran. This marked a dramatic reversal from his earlier role as a U.S. collaborator, casting him as a controversial figure involved in regional destabilization.

Following the public break between the Pentagon and Chalabi, a warrant for Aras Habib’s arrest was reportedly issued. However, the warrant has never been executed, and he remains at large, continuing to be a subject of suspicion and intrigue in both Iraqi and international political circles. Today Habib enjoys very close ties with Iran, Russia, UAE, KRG and Shia Arab parties in Iraq and Lebanon. He used to be an close ally of USA before he got sanctioned and accused by the pentagon for having close relationship with the Lebanese Hezbollah.