The State Department confirmed on Friday that Mohammed’s visa had been cancelled following her placement on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Terrorist Screening Database. US authorities did not disclose the information that led to her inclusion on the watchlist or specify whether she faces any criminal charge in the United States.
Mohammed is no longer in the United States. The State Department said the decision reflected the Trump administration’s policy of preventing people considered suspected terrorism risks from remaining in or entering the country.
The action contrasts sharply with Washington’s assessment of Mohammed during the administration of former president Joe Biden. She received the International Women of Courage Award in 2022, when she was serving as Iraq’s deputy finance minister and director-general of the Budget Department.
At the time, US officials described Mohammed as a “front-line leader against corrupt practices” and highlighted her role in preventing misuse of government funds. She was also widely known as Iraq’s “Iron Woman” because of her reputation for challenging corruption in public finance.
The award was presented at a State Department ceremony attended by then-secretary of state Antony Blinken and former first lady Jill Biden. The annual programme recognises women considered to have demonstrated courage and leadership in areas including justice, human rights, peace and women’s empowerment.
Mohammed became finance minister later in 2022 and remained in the post until July this year. Her departure came as Iraq entered another period of political transition and stepped up investigations into alleged misuse of public funds involving former officials and political figures.
Earlier this month, reports from Iraq said Mohammed had been summoned by a court as part of a widening corruption investigation and placed on a judicial wanted list. She was believed to be outside the country and had not been detained. A judicial summons does not establish guilt, and no conviction against her has been announced.
The US visa decision adds another layer to scrutiny surrounding Mohammed but leaves crucial questions unanswered. Washington has not publicly detailed why the FBI placed her on its terrorism watchlist, nor has it linked the designation to the corruption investigation in Iraq.
Republican lawmakers had previously accused Mohammed of failing to prevent parts of Iraq’s financial system from being used to transfer money benefiting Iran and Iran-backed groups. Some lawmakers urged the Trump administration to impose sanctions on her, portraying weaknesses in Iraq’s dollar-transfer system as a national-security concern.
No evidence establishing Mohammed’s personal involvement in terrorism financing has been publicly released by US authorities. The State Department’s announcement referred to her status on the FBI watchlist but did not set out allegations supporting that classification.
The case comes amid intensified US pressure on financial networks viewed as providing Iran with access to dollars and international banking channels. Washington has spent years tightening controls over dollar transfers from Iraq, seeking to restrict transactions involving sanctioned institutions, businesses and groups linked to Tehran.
Iraq’s banking system has consequently faced stronger compliance requirements, including greater scrutiny of international transfers and measures intended to identify the ultimate beneficiaries of dollar transactions. The controls have periodically strained relations between Baghdad and Washington while forcing Iraq to reform parts of a financial system long vulnerable to informal transfers, corruption and political influence.
Mohammed had spent decades inside the Finance Ministry before reaching its top post. She began working as a budget analyst in 1985, later becoming deputy director-general and then director-general of the Budget Department. By 2019 she had become deputy finance minister while continuing to oversee budget operations.
Her reputation was built largely on confrontations over government spending and attempts to block questionable allocations. Those credentials formed the basis of the 2022 US award and made Friday’s announcement particularly striking.
The change also illustrates how assessments of foreign officials can shift as administrations change priorities and new security information emerges. The Biden administration presented Mohammed as an example of institutional resistance to corruption, while the Trump administration has framed her case primarily through national-security and terrorism concerns.
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