Baghdad and French oil firm TotalEnergies signed a deal to move forward on $27 billion worth of investments in oil, gas, and solar energy after delays due to disputes between Iraqi politicians over how to divide project ownership (Reuters)
Iraq Reshuffles Security and Intelligence Services
According to Iraqi officials, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered the shakeup to consolidate his power and expel officials suspected of corruption under the previous government (Middle East Eye)
Netanyahu Announces Israeli Researcher Is Being Held in Iraq
Israel’s prime minister’s office said that Princeton University doctoral student Elizabeth Tsurkov, who holds Israeli and Russian dual citizenship, is being held by a Shiite militia in Iraq; Israeli and Russian officials are working to try to secure her release, Israeli media reported (Times of Israel;WaPo)
Quran Burning in Sweden Sparks Multiple Days of Protest
After the holy book was burned by a man in Sweden, Muqtada al-Sadr led two days of protests with thousands of his followers throughout the country and stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad (Guardian;VOA)
Over Fifty MPs Resign from Iraqi Kurdish Parliament
The legislators are protesting a decision by Baghdad’s Federal Supreme Court that declared unconstitutional a decision by the autonomous Kurdish region to delay parliamentary elections by a year (ABC)
Drought Endangers Economic Livelihoods in Iraq
The Ministry of Water Resources has called the drought Iraq’s worst water shortage in a century, affecting around seven million people, and many families do not have the economic means to leave the country (Al Jazeera)
Water Shortage Threatens Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq
Tens of thousands live in villages with insufficient access to fresh water but lack the resources to relocate; with polluted rivers and receding lakes, the UN warns that Iraq will only be able to meet 15 percent of its water needs by 2035 (Al Jazeera)
Iraqi President Ratifies Record $152 Billion Budget
Iraq says it will improve services and create more than five hundred thousand new public sector jobs; the IMF expressed concern over Baghdad’s loose fiscal policy and reliance on oil revenue (ABC)
Qatar Partners with Iraq on Development Projects Worth $9.5 Billion
Among the most significant projects is the construction of power plants that will reduce Iraq’s energy dependence on Iran (Al Jazeera)
Islamic State Attacks Iraqi Army in Northern Iraq
Kirkuk’s governor said IS had taken advantage of a weak point in the area, which is “divided between the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga forces who don’t coordinate their actions” (ABC)
Parliament Approves Budget Granting Federal Control of Kurdish Oil Revenue
Parliament approved a national budget over the weekend that increases federal control over oil revenue from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region (The National)
Officer Convicted in Killing of Hisham al-Hashim
An Iraqi police officer was found guilty and given the death penalty for the murder of Hisham al-Hashimi, a well-known security analyst and vocal critic of the country’s militias (AP)
Iraq Requests International Aid to Combat River Drought
Iraq is seeking urgent international assistance to stop the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from drying up due to climate change; at an event in Baghdad, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudan also spoke about Iraq’s climate strategy, which includes a seawater desalination project to make up for lack of water from the rivers (Bloomberg)
Iraqi President Meets Iran’s Supreme Leader in Tehran
During Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid’s first visit to Iran as head of state, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told him that “even one American in Iraq is too many”; the leaders also discussed the implementation of bilateral security and economic agreements signed last month (Al Jazeera)
Iraq and Kurdish-led Syrian Forces Condemn Airport Attack
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and Iraq’s presidency condemned what they claim was a Turkish attack on the Suleimaniyah International Airport; according to Syrian Democratic Forces, its chief commander, Mazloum Abdi, was at the airport at the time of the attack but returned home safely (AP)
Blast at Northern Iraq Airport
According to local officials, there was an explosion at the Suleimaniyah International Airport in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region just days after Turkey prohibited planes from the airport from entering its airspace, citing increased Kurdish militant activity as the cause for closure (AP)
Iraq to Resume Oil Exports
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, reached an agreement to resume oil exports from northern Iraq (Al Jazeera)
Iraqi Parliament Scraps Electoral Law Seen as Benefiting Smaller Parties, Independents
The legislature announced the change without publishing a vote count, and some independent lawmakers said they had been expelled during the debate over the law, which had been adopted in response to anti-government protests in 2019 (AFP)
Iraq and Iran Increase Security Coordination on Shared Border
Iraq and Iran signed a border security agreement that Iraqi officials said is aimed at tightening the frontier with Iraq’s Kurdish region (Reuters)
Five Killed in Helicopter Crash
According to the Iraqi Kurdish-run counterterrorism agency and regional government, a mysterious helicopter crash in northern Iraq killed five and allegedly included militants from the outlawed Kurdish insurgency group (AP)
Defense Chief Austin Makes Unannounced Visit to Baghdad
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin traveled to Iraq today, nearly twenty years after the U.S.-led invasion of the country; Austin committed to keeping U.S. troops in Iraq, where some 2,500 of them are stationed on a counterterrorism mission (Reuters)
Iraq Signs Oil and Gas Deals
Iraq signed deals with UAE firm Crescent Petroleum and two Chinese companies as part of its efforts to produce natural gas and reduce imports; the agreement includes the development of six oil and gas fields (Reuters)
Kuwait, Iraq Maritime Border Dispute
Kuwait and Iraq held a round of legal and technical talks to discuss their maritime border dispute; Kuwait’s foreign minister said if resolved, it would spur economic development between the states (Reuters)
Iraqi Dinars Revalued
Iraq’s cabinet said it approved a currency revaluation, setting the exchange rate at 1,300 dinars per U.S. dollar (Reuters)
Iraqi Oil Flow to Turkey Resumes
The ministry of natural resources for Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced the pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan oil export hub had restarted (Reuters)