Iraqi President, Other Heads of State Potential Pegasus Surveillance Targets: WashPost

The phone of Iraq’s President Barham Salih was on a list of 50,000 numbers selected for possible surveillance in the Pegasus spyware case, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The Post said that it had not been possible to determine if Israeli company NSO Group’s signature spyware, Pegasus, had infected Salih’s phone or whether there had been any attempt to do so.

Salih was among three presidents, 10 prime ministers, and a king whose phone numbers were on the list of potential surveillance targets.

The findings are part of an international investigation involving the Post and 16 other media organizations. An NSO spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Washington Post report.