Key Takeaways:
- POLITICS: Sudani in Ankara to Sign Several Bilateral Agreements with Turkey – On May 8, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani arrived in Ankara for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During the visit, the two sides signed several memorandums of agreement covering cooperation in military industry, combating drug trafficking, higher education, emergency management, migrant resettlement, and police training, according to a statement from Sudani’s office. Sudani’s agenda in Ankara also included security talks, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), water, energy, and the Development Road project, among other topics. Speaking to reporters in Ankara, Sudani remarked that the Development Road project “is a very good opportunity for the region as well as for the world. It is about the economic integration of regional countries.” On the question of the PKK, Sudani stressed that Baghdad considers the group’s presence illegal, expressing support for its disbandment. In other developments, on May 2, Sudani defended his recent decision to invite Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to attend the upcoming Arab League summit in Baghdad. During a televised interview, Sudani emphasized that Sharaa’s participation—opposed by some of his allies in the ruling Coordination Framework coalition—was important so Sharaa could present his views on Syria’s future. On May 4, Iraqi Finance Minister Tayf Sami acknowledged that the government had authorized her to tap into $2.3 billion in tax deposit accounts to provide liquidity needed to pay public sector salaries for April. The minister played down the withdrawal—which raised concerns about the government’s ability to meet its obligations and questions about the legality of the move—as a standard procedure to make use of funds that would ultimately become part of the state’s revenue. more…
- SECURITY & HUMANITARIAN: Child Killed, Three Iraqis Wounded in Explosions and Clashes with ISIS – Between May 2–8, the explosion of an improvised explosive device (IED) in Anbar and a remnant of war in Ninewa killed a 10-year-old boy and wounded three civilians, two of whom were children. Meanwhile, security forces clashed with suspected ISIS militants in the Tarmiyah district, north of the Iraqi capital. Security forces killed one of the militants and wounded two others during the clashes, while one fighter from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) was also injured. In other developments, on May 7, armed clashes erupted between members of two tribes in the al-Husseiniyah district on the outskirts of Baghdad. Several houses were set on fire during the fighting, which involved the use of light and medium automatic weapons, but there were no reports of casualties. more…
- ECONOMY & CLIMATE: Displacement Due to Climate Change Rises Sharply in Southern Iraq – On May 7, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) published new data reflecting a further increase in climate-induced displacement affecting communities in southern Iraq. The data show that as of March 2025, at least 172,000 individuals had been displaced from their areas due to water shortages and environmental degradation impacting 12 provinces. Almost half of the displaced families (14,136) are from Dhi-Qar province, followed by Maysan (5,318 families) and Diwaniyah (2,987 families). The worst-affected district is al-Rifai in Dhi-Qar province, which reported 4,396 families displaced. The new data indicate that the number of individuals displaced by water scarcity and other climatic factors has increased by 25,000 since the previous dataset was published in August 2024. In other developments, on May 2, the Dhi-Qar Oil Company said it had restarted production at the Subba oil field at a rate of 20,000 barrels per day after a nearly 18-month pause for repairs. On May 5, Iraqi private bank executives said that transactions handled through electronic payment systems have increased in value by more than 1,000% in the last five years, from IQD 1.7 trillion in 2020 to IQD 21 trillion in 2024. On May 6, the Iraqi government said it will send 50,000 tons of wheat as a gift to the people of Tunisia. more…
For more background on most of the institutions, key actors, political parties, and locations mentioned in our takeaways or in the stories that follow, see the ISHM Reference Guide.