Head-office hub
The Ministry of Oil and SOMO are headquartered in Baghdad, so many contractor and procurement offices sit here even though the large producing fields are in the south and north.
Baghdad is Iraq's capital and the headquarters of the Ministry of Oil and State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO). Hazardous-area work in the city centres on the Daura refinery, run by Midland Refineries Company in the Daura district, plus fuel handling and power-sector sites. This page explains what to look for in an intrinsically safe mobile phone for Baghdad, and where the IS-04Z1 stands against that list today.
Pre-launch · certification in progress · Launching Q4 2026
Short answer. The SAMS IS-04Z1 is the intrinsically safe smartphone covered here for Baghdad: pre-launch, designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 (marking target Ex ib IIC T4), with certification in progress and no certificate issued.
Current position: certification in progress, nothing issued, launch targeted for Q4 2026. An operator's own vendor approval is a separate step. Certification status. Place facts reviewed October 2026.
| Check | What to look for | IS-04Z1 today |
|---|---|---|
| Level of protection | ia, ib or ic matched to the zone | ib, for Zone 1 |
| Entity parameters | Uo, Io and Po within the device limits | Published with the certificate |
| Accessories | Chargers and cases certified with the device | Defined at certification |
| Where it applies | Baghdad: Refinery process units, Fuel and LPG storage, Pipeline pumping stations | Classified by the site operator |

An intrinsically safe Android smartphone designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 hazardous areas in Baghdad. It is pre-launch: IECEx, ATEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
Who operates there and which kinds of classified area a handset would meet, from the SAMS site research.
The Ministry of Oil and SOMO are headquartered in Baghdad, so many contractor and procurement offices sit here even though the large producing fields are in the south and north.
Daura refinery lies in a district on the edge of the city; visits and deliveries to refineries normally need operator-issued permits and advance planning.
The Communications and Media Commission, which issues telecom type approvals valid for one year, is based in Baghdad and works with registered local partners.
Baghdad International Airport, the base of Iraqi Airways, opened in 1982 and reopened in August 2000, while Baghdad Airport Road is one of the named main routes linking the airport and the city.
The city is described as a primary financial and commercial centre of the region, so business meetings and approvals are often held here even when the work is elsewhere.
Baghdad is on the Tigris with an estimated population of about 8 million, about 22 percent of Iraq's people, so it holds the deepest pool of technical and administrative staff.
Intrinsic safety limits the electrical and thermal energy in a circuit so that neither a spark nor a hot surface can ignite a gas or dust atmosphere, even when a fault occurs. The ib level, used for Zone 1, tolerates one fault. It is the usual way to make a handheld device that a worker carries continuously through a hazardous area.
The IS-04Z1 is designed on this principle for Zone 1 and Zone 21 (marking target II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4). Intrinsic safety is a design basis, not a certificate: certification is in progress and none has been issued yet.
In Baghdad. Operators in Baghdad run inspection rounds through refinery units, tank farms and pumping stations, where a worker needs a phone for photos, permits and reporting while moving between classified areas. An intrinsically safe handheld suits that work because energy in the circuit is limited, which is why the IS-04Z1 is designed on that principle.
A short checklist for anyone writing or reviewing the specification, with the IS-04Z1 status against each point.
No. Nothing can be bought or taken into a classified area today: certification is in progress and launch is planned for Q4 2026. What is available now is the datasheet, the written certification schedule and evaluation units for safe-area use.
SAMS has not published a price. Any figure you are offered for an uncertified Ex phone should be treated with caution; written indicative pricing is available for a defined quantity and site.
The circuits are designed to limit energy so a spark or hot surface cannot ignite a gas or dust atmosphere, even with one fault (level ib, Zone 1). Certification of that design is in progress.
Likely candidates are refinery process units, fuel and lpg storage, pipeline pumping stations. Which areas are classified, and to what zone, is set by the site operator's own area classification drawings.
Not exactly. Explosion proof is a broad everyday term; intrinsic safety is one protection concept, which limits energy so ignition cannot occur. Flameproof (Ex d) is a different concept that contains an explosion. The IS-04Z1 is intrinsically safe by design.
Ministry and state company offices are concentrated there, so tender documents and approvals are often processed in Baghdad even when the work is at fields in the south or north.
The city itself is mainly commercial and administrative, with refineries and fuel depots on the outskirts. Ask the operator which sites you need to enter and what area classification they use.
Visits and deliveries to refinery sites normally need operator-issued permits and advance planning, so the device question is part of that process. The IS-04Z1 is not yet certified, so it could not be admitted today. Ask the site operator about its device policy and area classification first.
More on Baghdad, and on other places in Iraq.
Share the site details and quantity. You will get the datasheet and the certification schedule back by email; pricing is indicative only until launch.
Send the zone and gas group of your site and we will reply with the datasheet and schedule.