Khaled al-Obaidi

Khaled Miteb Yassin Hassan Al-Obaidi (born 1959) is an Iraqi politician and former military officer who served as Minister of Defense of Iraq from 2014 to 2016. His tenure took place during a critical period in the country’s fight against the Islamic State, particularly following the fall of Mosul in 2014.

Background Khalid Yassin al-Obaidi is a Sunni Muslim who was born in Mosul. al-Obaidi is a member of the Iraqi parliament's Itihad al-Quwa al-Wataniyah bloc. He holds two master's degree in engineering and military science as well as a doctorate in political science. He served in the Iraqi Air Force, specialising in engineering aircraft engines until 2003 when he was appointed as a university professor by the Ministry of Higher Education. He was appointed as the Technical Education Authority by the Ministry of Education in 2007 He was also a major general in the Iraqi Army. In August 2016, al-Obeidi was voted out of power through a no-confidence vote in the parliament, with a majority of lawmakers voting against him over allegations of corruption. He is the first incumbent defence minister to receive a no-confidence vote in Iraq after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Othman al-Ghanmi was appointed to succeed him as the interim Defence Minister by the Iraqi government on 29 August 2016.

Later career

In December 2017, an MP reported that an arrest warrant had been issued for al-Obaidi. Warrants were issued for 48 defence officials in total, including the air force commander.

al-Obaidi later shifted to the Azem Alliance. Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi appointed him as the head of the operations section of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service on 14 September 2020.

He also serves as a member of the Iraqi parliament from Nineveh and a member of the parliament's security and defense committee.