A doctor by profession, he is the fourth most senior politician from the Sunni Arab minority after former Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak and Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Usama al-Nujayfi.

He was in that role during the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004 and he reported that 800 local Iraqis had died as a result of the attack.

[8] Following the December 2005 election and six months of negotiations, a "government of national unity" was agreed between the four main coalitions, under the leadership of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

He became the Minister of Finance in the Al Maliki II Government which was formed on 22 December 2010 after nine months of negotiations.

An adviser to the Prime Minister said Issawi had been linked to al Qaeda in Iraq, although the Americans in 2010 had said that a thorough investigation of these allegations had determined that they were groundless.