Former Northern Oil Projects Director Iyad Hussein has broken his silence after a controversial video attributed to him circulated on social media. In a televised interview, he claimed that he was the victim of a violent cyber blackmail campaign carried out by an unknown network that allegedly demanded huge sums of money in exchange for not releasing fabricated videos and photos.
According to Hussein, the materials circulated online were fake and were deliberately used to damage his reputation, as well as harm his family and tribe socially and psychologically.
Speaking during an interview followed by Al-Sa’a network, Hussein said he had turned to Iraq’s National Security Service after receiving threats from unknown numbers. He explained that the blackmailers threatened to publish fabricated images and videos unless he paid large amounts of money.
“I contacted the National Security Service,” Hussein said, adding that the authorities were able to trace the fake phone numbers and identify the real people behind the blackmail attempt. The case, he said, has now been referred to the judiciary so that he can seek justice and clear his name.
Hussein also spoke about his long career in the oil sector. He said he had worked for 41 years in the industry, serving in several oil companies in Basra and other provinces before retiring in 2025 due to his wife’s illness. He later travelled with her to India for medical treatment, but she passed away afterward.
“After my retirement, threats started reaching me from unknown numbers,” he explained. “The blackmail increased in an abnormal way. I went to the National Security Service and told them that these numbers were threatening to publish fabricated photos and videos if I did not pay money.”
He added that the amounts demanded by the alleged blackmailers were “astronomical,” stressing that the National Security Service had managed to identify those involved. He also expressed confidence that the judiciary would take the necessary legal measures to ensure justice.
The case comes after several social media pages circulated a video allegedly showing Iyad Hussein Al-Jawhar, director of the Northern Projects Authority under the Oil Projects Company, in the company of a woman whom those pages claimed was a department official.
Hussein strongly denies the claims and insists that the video and images were fabricated as part of a coordinated attempt to destroy his reputation.
