Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has ordered the cancellation of three contracts at Mosul International Airport over alleged links to armed groups, in a direct challenge to the business networks of Iran-aligned militias. The decision was announced on Saturday evening by Nineveh Governor Abdul Qadir al-Dakhil after a meeting in Baghdad with the prime minister.

The cancelled deals cover check-in counter rentals held by SkyPlus, an uncovered parking facility leased to Sama Al-Matar, and a taxi office run by Al-Faisal Al-Shamikh, according to an informed source cited by Shafaq News. The prime minister directed that the services be reassigned to international companies.

Governor al-Dakhil said the transport ministry had awarded the contracts without the knowledge or approval of the local government, which had already objected to the deals. The official statement did not name the armed groups allegedly linked to the contracts.

The move comes amid a standoff over disarming Iraq's armed factions, with government sources saying negotiations have reached near deadlock because the groups refuse to surrender their weapons. Kata'ib Hezbollah, one of Iraq's most prominent armed factions, denied controlling contracts at Iraqi airports and questioned the finances of the prime minister's brother, Hassan al-Zaidi. Mosul airport resumed operations after extensive reconstruction following the war against ISIS, and control of its commercial contracts has become a test of whether civilian authorities can operate independently of militia pressure.