Baghdad: The State Audit Bureau has disclosed violations by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning the Foreign Service Law across more than five countries.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the Federal Board of Supreme Audit, in its annual report, indicated that the Ministry had misclassified certain diplomatic missions. These include missions in Tehran, Syria, Jordan, and India, which were placed under the Special Group classification. Furthermore, locations like Mashhad, Ahvaz, Kermanshah, Lebanon, Tunisia, Egypt, and Morocco were inaccurately categorized within the Eurozone, despite not using Eurozone currencies or being listed as high-cost living areas. This misclassification breaches Article (14 – Fourth) of the Foreign Service Law No. (45) of 2008, which demands that the Council of Ministers, upon recommendation by the Minister and the Foreign Service Committee, should amend foreign service allowance percentages based on United Nations cost of living data. The body highlighted that allocations for Special Group countries were unjustifiably higher than those for Eurozone countries or their equivalents.

The report also outlined a significant increase in foreign service allocations, which rose from 115 billion, 163 million, and 960 thousand dinars in 2022 to 128 billion, 534 million, and 608 thousand dinars in 2023, marking a 12% increase. This is in direct violation of Article (6 – First – C) of Section Two / Expenditures of the Instructions for Implementing the Federal General Budget for 2023, which prohibits commitments to spend beyond the allocated amounts in the Federal General Budget.