Key Takeaways:
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Court Blocks Several Budget Law Articles; KRG Officially Asks IHEC To Oversee Regional Elections – On July 12, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court issued a ruling to suspend the implementation of several articles from the recently passed federal budget law. The ruling comes less than two weeks after PM Sudani filed an objection arguing that parliament took unconstitutional action by adding several articles that were not part of the original draft submitted by the government. On July 12, the president of the KRG sent an official request to IHEC to oversee the next vote to elect the regional parliament of Kurdistan, currently scheduled for November 18. In an immediate response to the KRG letter, an IHEC spokeswoman said the Commission was willing to oversee the election but “affirms that it cannot conduct the provincial council elections in Iraq and the Kurdistan parliament elections at the same time.” In other developments, on July 13, members of the Iraqi Christian community demonstrated in Ankawa in objection to a decision by Iraq’s president to recall a 2013 decree by his predecessor that recognized Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako as Patriarch of the Chaldeans. This comes signs of rising tension between Cardinal Sako and the Babylon movement of Rayyan al-Kildani, which is often accused of hijacking the representation of Iraq’s Christian community. On July 13, local sources in Erbil said the PM Sudani began an unannounced visit to the Kurdistan region to meet with KDP leader Masoud Barzani. more…
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**Demonstrations Demand Evacuation OF PMF Headquarters In Basra As Tensions Between Militias Continue ** On July 11, hundreds of people demonstrated in Basra demanding that militias evacuate the presidential palace complex in the city, which hosts the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and the provincial offices of other government agencies. The demonstration, held uder tight security, was peaceful. The protests, in which demonstrators held banners condemning “attacks on homes” followed a number of incidents that pointed to heightened tensions between followers of Muqtada al-Sadr and the rival Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) militia, including attacks targeting a local Sadrist leader and a lawmaker affiliated with AAH. In other developments, on July 11, armed PMF personnel forcibly entered the offices of the journalists’ association in the city of Diwaniyah, planning to occupy it, a local lawmaker said. News reports indicate the PMF members withdrew after the Interior Minister and Diwaniyah governor intervened to resolve the standoff. more…
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More than 20,000 People Displaced By Climate Change In Southern Iraq Since Last Fall – On July 10, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) published new data on the scale of climate-induced displacement affecting communities in southern Iraq. The data shows that as of mid-June, more than 83,500 individuals (comprising 13,920 families) were experiencing displacement from their areas due to water shortages impacting ten provinces. The new data indicates that the number of individuals displaced by water scarcity has increased by approximately 20,800 since last fall, when the number stood at 62,700. Almost a third of the displaced families (4,420) are from Dhi-Qar province, followed by Maysan (4,150 families), Diwaniyah (1,622 families) and Muthanna (1,478 families). Also this week, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) raised concerns about the “grave consequences of climate change and water scarcity” on the marshes of southern Iraq and their inhabitants. Recent data collected by FAO indicates the water level of the Euphrates in Dhi-Qar was a mere 56 centimeters, while the marshes had somewhere between zero and 30 centimeters. As a result, almost 70% of the marshes currently have no water. In other developments, on July 6, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that KRG authorities ordered the Rasan organization, the region’s only nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ rights to cease operations, calling the move “a clear message [by the KRG] that it does not respect freedom of association.” more…
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Major Energy Deal With TotalEnergies Finally Signed; Iraq To Trade Crude And Fuel Oil For Iranian Gas – On July 10, Iraq’s Oil Ministry and TotalEnergies signed contracts for a major energy deal known as the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP), which involves four projects worth an estimated $27 billion. The deal, which encountered many delays since it was first initiated in 2021 due to disagreements over financing and ownership stakes, involves processing and transport seawater for injection, harnessing 600 million cubic feet per day of associated gas, developing the Ratawi oil field, and building a 1,000 megawatt solar farm. On July 12, PM Sudani said Iraq will begin trading crude and fuel for gas and electricity imported from Iran in an effort to resolve delayed payment issues that recently caused Iran to slash gas exports by more than half. Iraq’s power generation, which lost 5,000 megawatts last week, reportedly recovered nearly 2,400 megawatts after the announcement, as gas supplies began to improve. In other developments, on July 11, Iraq’s Planning Ministry said that its latest estimates put Iraq’s population at 43.324 million people. On July 12, the Iraqi government approved plans by the Ministry of Oil to purchase unspecified amounts of natural gas from the Khor Mor gas field in Kurdistan region to supply power plants with fuel. 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.