Key Takeaways:
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Cardinal Sako Leaves Baghdad As Tension With Christian Militia Leader Escalates; Sudani Visits Damascus; Iraq Severs Ties With Sweden, Embassy Torched – On July 15, Cardinal Louis Sako, Patriarch of the Chaldeans, announced his decision to relocate his office from Baghdad to Erbil in objection to “the deliberate and insulting campaign by the Babylon brigade.” This week, Sako faced court summons in Baghdad after Rayyan al-Kildani, the leader of the Babylon Movement (and militia) filed a lawsuit accusing Sako of slander. Sako said the campaign against him was part of a “dirty game” by Kildani to appoint his associates in key positions in charge of the Christian community’s endowments. A spokesman for the State Department said Washington was “disturbed by the harassment of Cardinal Sako… and troubled by the news that he has left Baghdad.” On July 16, PM Sudani began an official visit to Syria accompanied by a large delegation. Speaking at a joint press conference with Bashar al-Asad, Sudani called for joint action to engage with upstream countries to secure “the fair share of water for Syria and Iraq.” The two sides also discussed trade, border security, and combatting drug trafficking. On July 20, the Iraqi government severed diplomatic relations with Sweden in response to reports that an Iraqi immigrant desecrated a copy of the Quran outside Iraq’s embassy in Stockholm. Baghdad condemned Swedish authorities for allowing the individual in question to perform his act, and asked the Swedish ambassador to leave Iraq, while also recalling its charge d’affaires from Stockholm. Meanwhile, followers of Muqtada al-Sadr attacked the Swedish embassy and set the building on fire. Authorities reportedly evacuated embassy staff to a safe location and, belatedly, deployed security forces to the area. Meanwhile, a militia group called Ashab al-Kahf urged their members and other “resistance” groups to “seek and destroy Swedish interests.” UNAMI condemned the attack on Sweden’s embassy and called on Iraq to respect the Vienna Convention. The State Department said it was unacceptable that Iraqi security forces did not act to prevent the embassy attack. more…
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Sadr’s Followers Attack The Offices Of Rival Parties In Several Provinces – On July 16, angry crowds of Muqtada al-Sadr’s followers attacked and vandalized 20 offices belonging to the Dawa party and other rival groups across several provinces in central and southern Iraq. The wave of assaults came after a senior aide to Muqtada al-Sadr accused Dawa leader Nouri al-Maliki of insulting Sadr’s father, the late Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr. Some of the incidents involved the use of weapons, as reports indicate that at least four offices of parties allied with Dawa in Najaf and Baghdad were struck with rocket propelled grenades and machine gun fire. There were no reports of fatalities. Maliki called the accusations directed at his party and the attacks on its offices an attempt at sowing discord between Shia parties. For his part, Sadr denounced the use of violence and, in an expression of solidarity, visited one of the offices that was struck with gunfire the night before. In other developments, the explosions of three IEDs and two remnants of war in Anbar, Diyala, Dhi-Qar, and Basra killed at least one Iraqi and wounded six, including two children. more…
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Baghdad Looks For Alternatives To Iranian Gas; Fourteen Iraqi Banks Barred From Using U.S. Dollars – On July 14, Iraq’s Electricity Ministry said it plans to dispatch delegations to Qatar and Turkmenistan to explore the possibility of importing natural gas to supply power plants. On the following day, Iraq’s Electricity Minister said Baghdad was also considering plans to purchase 80 million cubic feet/day of surplus gas from the Kurdistan region as part of its quest to find alternatives to unreliable imports from Iran. Then on July 19, Iraq’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said an Iraqi delegation discussed energy relations with Venezuela’s deputy oil minister and that the two sides plan to sign a memorandum of understanding regarding cooperation in the energy and gas sector when the Foreign Affairs Minister visits Venezuela later this year. On July 20, the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) barred 14 Iraqi banks from conducting transactions in U.S. dollars based on audits of their foreign transfers in 2022. The CBI move comes after the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank of New York imposed sanctions on those banks over money laundering concerns involving transactions with Iran. In other developments, on July 16, Iraq’s Transportation Minister said he sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting that Iraq appeal Security Council resolution 833 of 1993, which deals with Iraq’s maritime borders with Kuwait. On July 19, the Department of State approved a 120-day sanctions waiver that allows Iraq to pay for energy imported from Iran through foreign banks instead of Iraqi banks to avoid restrictions on the latter that have led to supply disruptions. 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.