Ayman Ammar is an Iraqi political activist and engineer who has been targeted by the authorities in a context of restrictions on cultural expression and public freedoms in Iraq. Ayman Ammar serves as the director of the “Nasiriyah Reads” festival, a cultural initiative aimed at promoting reading and intellectual exchange. On 12 February 2026, a shipment of books intended for the festival was stopped by security forces at a checkpoint at the entrance to Nasiriyah, where authorities confiscated the books after finding a title containing images of former president Saddam Hussein and arrested the truck driver. When Ammar attempted to resolve the situation, he was also arrested by security forces. He was held in detention until 15 February 2026, when he was released. His arrest occurred in the context of a broader decision by local authorities to cancel the festival, a move widely condemned by writers, intellectuals and civil society actors as inconsistent with the protection of public freedoms and cultural rights. The organisers later announced their intention to hold the festival on 17 April 2026.