State Dept. Revokes Visa of Iraqi Woman Who Received Award from Biden After She's Found on Terror Watch List
The State Department has revoked the U.S. visa of a former Iraqi finance official who received a Biden-era State Department award and later appeared on the FBI’s terrorist watchlist.
Assistant Secretary of State Dylan Johnson identified her as Taif Sami Mohammed Al Shakarchi in a statement Friday.
Johnson said she is no longer in the United States.
In 2022, then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken and then-First Lady Jill Biden presented her with the International Women of Courage Award.
The department at the time described the prize as recognition for women who showed “exceptional courage” on peace, justice, human rights, and “gender equity.”
🚨JUST IN🚨
The State Department has revoked the U.S. visa of Iraqi national Taif Sami Mohammed Al Shakarchi after she was placed on the FBI Terror Watchlist.
She is no longer in the United States.
In 2022, the Biden administration gave her the International Woman of Courage… pic.twitter.com/rBdnrWvTlT
— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) August 28, 2026
Blinken called her Iraq’s “Iron Woman” and praised her as a fighter against budget corruption, Fox News reported.
She had served as Iraq’s finance minister after earlier posts as deputy finance minister and director general of the budget department.
Johnson said she was later added to the FBI terror watchlist and that the Trump State Department then revoked her visa.
“Under President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, suspected terrorists will never be allowed to remain in the United States,” Johnson said.
On X, he contrasted the 2022 ceremony with the new action.
“While the Biden State Department shamefully celebrated and awarded foreigners who threaten our nation, the Trump State Department revokes their visas,” he said.
In 2022, Anthony Blinken and Jill Biden celebrated Iraqi national Taif Sami Mohammed Al Shakarchi – personally presenting her with an award for advancing “gender equity.”
Since, Ms. Mohammed was added to the FBI’s terror watchlist.
As a result, the Trump @StateDept took swift… pic.twitter.com/lMK5K87910
— Dylan Johnson (@ASDylanJohnson) August 28, 2026
The State Department did not release the intelligence behind the watchlist listing or say when she was added.
A watchlist placement is not a criminal conviction. The government has not publicly filed terror charges against her in this announcement.
Rep. Joe Wilson, a Republican from South Carolina, and Greg Steube, a Republican from Florida, have separately accused her of helping terrorist financing move through Iraq’s financial system and have urged sanctions.
Those lawmakers’ claims have not been adjudicated in the State Department release.
An Iraqi court last year summoned her in a corruption inquiry involving former senior officials and placed her on a judicial wanted list, Fox News noted. That probe has not established guilt in U.S. reporting.
She is believed to be outside Iraq as well as outside the United States.
The 2022 award and the 2026 visa revocation now sit on the same record: a woman once hosted in Washington as a reformer is being treated by the current administration as a security problem.
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