The State Department has revoked the visa of a senior Iraqi official who was celebrated by the Biden administration just a few years ago, marking a sharp reversal in Washington's relationship with a figure now accused of enabling terrorist financing.
Taif Sami Mohammed, who served as Iraq's finance minister, has been placed on the U.S. terrorist watchlist and is believed to be outside Iraq, according to a State Department official. The department revoked her visa this week, though it did not provide details about when she was added to the watchlist or what intelligence led to that determination.
The move stands in stark contrast to 2022, when Secretary of State Antony Blinken presented Mohammed with the State Department's International Women of Courage Award. At the March 2022 ceremony, Blinken praised her as Iraq's "Iron Woman," crediting her with stopping bribes, uncovering schemes that enriched corrupt officials, and fighting corruption despite threats against her. The ceremony, which featured remarks from then-first lady Jill Biden, honored twelve women for extraordinary courage and leadership.
Mohammed's fall from favor has been building publicly for more than a year. Republican lawmakers, including Reps. Joe Wilson of South Carolina and Greg Steube of Florida, have accused her of helping facilitate terrorist financing through Iraq's financial system and urged the Trump administration to take action. They called her a "key enabler of terrorist funding in Iraq" and pushed for sanctions.
Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson framed the visa revocation as part of a broader policy shift. "While the Biden State Department shamefully celebrated and awarded foreigners who threaten our nation, the Trump State Department revokes their visas and ensures these individuals are removed from our country," Johnson said. "Under President Trump and Secretary Rubio, suspected terrorists will never be allowed to remain in the United States."
Mohammed's career in Iraq has also taken a difficult turn. An Iraqi court summoned her and placed her on a judicial wanted list as authorities widened a corruption investigation into former senior government officials, according to a report from IraqiNews in August 2025. The investigation grew out of a broader corruption probe involving government contracts and large sums of public money, and it has reached other former officials. The court action is part of an investigation and does not establish that Mohammed committed wrongdoing.
At the time of her award, Mohammed was Iraq's deputy finance minister and director general of its budget department. The State Department described her as a "frontline leader against corrupt practices" who had been integral to preventing corruption in Iraq's budget. She later rose to become finance minister, overseeing the federal budget, government spending, and Baghdad's financial relationship with Iraq's Kurdistan region.
The State Department has not said whether the watchlist placement is connected to the terrorist financing allegations raised by members of Congress, the Iraqi corruption investigation, or other intelligence gathered by the U.S. government.