The Biden administration thought so highly of Taif Sami Mohammed Al Shakarchi that first lady Jill Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave her the International Women of Courage Award in 2022.
The FBI has now placed the Iraqi woman on the terror watchlist, and the State Department has revoked her visa to enter the U.S.
“This Iraqi national’s visa has now been revoked by the State Department following her placement on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Terror Watchlist. She is no longer present in the United States,” the department said in a statement. “Under President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, suspected terrorists will never be allowed to remain in the United States.”
The statement did not say what earned her the terror designation.
She was Iraq’s deputy finance minister at the time she was recognized by the Biden administration. She would then serve as the top minister from 2022 until earlier this year.
The State Department at the time hailed her as a political independent who fought against corruption in Iraq’s budget, earning her the nickname of the “Iron Woman.”
Iraq now says she was implicated in a possible corruption scheme, according to The Associated Press.
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