Security Services in Iraq

Ask a security planner what makes Iraq different from most of this network’s coverage, and the answer is not the threat level alone. It is that armed close protection here is the default configuration, not a specialist add-on, and that the country runs two separate, non-transferable licensing systems rather than one.

Two licensing systems under one flag

Baghdad and Basra sit under the federal Ministry of Interior’s Private Security Companies Department, the PSCD, created under Law No. 2 of 2017. The Kurdistan Region, home to Erbil, runs its own parallel system through the KRG’s Ministry of Interior. These are not the same register with a regional branch office; they are genuinely separate licensing authorities, each with its own registration process, its own weapons permitting, and its own compliance expectations. A firm with impeccable PSCD credentials in Baghdad has to start from scratch, or partner locally, to work legally in Erbil.

Armed protection as the baseline, not the exception

On most of this network’s coverage, armed close protection is reserved for a minority of higher-risk assignments. Iraq inverts that. Weapons permits issued through the PSCD or KRG Ministry of Interior are a routine part of an operator’s credential set, and unarmed protection is closer to the exception in Baghdad and Basra than the rule. Erbil is somewhat calmer day to day, but even there, an armed team with an armoured vehicle is standard once travel moves past the city centre.

Basra’s client base is different from Baghdad’s

Basra’s security demand is shaped almost entirely by one industry: oil and gas. Energy executives and technical personnel moving between facilities, ports and hotels form most of the client base, and PSCD’s Arabic-language documentation requirements are a genuine scheduling factor for foreign firms mobilising a team on short notice. Baghdad’s client base is broader, spanning government-facing, diplomatic and general commercial visits, which shapes a different day-to-day risk picture even though both cities carry the same headline rating.

Source: FCDO Iraq travel advice (2026). US State Department Iraq advisory (2026). Iraq Private Security Companies Law No. 2 of 2017. Iraqi Ministry of Interior Private Security Companies Department (PSCD). Kurdistan Regional Government Ministry of Interior. OSAC Iraq Country Security Report 2025.

Vetted operators across Iraq deliver bodyguard hire and security drivers, each held to the correct licensing authority for the city in question. For a city-level threat and regulatory briefing, see our Baghdad close protection guide or the Erbil security briefing.