Key Takeaways:
- POLITICS: Sudani Meets World Leaders In New York; KDP Wants Census Postponed In Kirkuk – On September 21, Iraqi PM Mohammed al-Sudani arrived in New York to attend the meetings of the 79th United Nations General Assembly. While there, Sudani met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss bilateral relations, with a focus on the energy sector and the presence of the U.S.-led Global Coalition in Iraq. Sudani also stressed the need to end the war on Gaza and Lebanon, warning that escalation raises the risk of a full-scale war and further widening the conflict zone. Sudani also had talks with senior U.S. Treasury officials concerning economic diversification, financial reforms, and combating money laundering. Sudani later met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks that focused on the war in Gaza, counter-terrorism, and cooperation in trade, transportation, and energy. Specifically, Sudani mentioned that his government plans to resolve border security problems “according to the same mechanism used to secure the border with Iran,” in reference to the border security agreement Iraq and Iran signed in March 2023. Sudani met with other world leaders, including the prime ministers of Italy, Lebanon, Somalia, and Greece, the king of Jordan, and the presidents of Yemen, Cyprus, and Kenya. On September 23, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) said that conditions were not suitable for holding a population census in Kirkuk, calling for its postponement. The party’s Kirkuk office chief argued in a statement that while the census was “necessary,” it must be postponed in Kirkuk until article 140 of the constitution, which deals with the status of disputed territories, had been implemented. The KDP official further argued that demographic changes by the Ba’ath Party regime displaced the inhabitants of 4,500 Kurdish villages from Kirkuk to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, creating an “exceptional” situation in the province. Iraq is scheduled to hold a national population census on November 20, 2024. In other developments, on September 24, several Iraqi sources told Reuters that IRGC commander Esmail Qaani visited Baghdad last week to persuade Coordination Framework leaders to reduce pressure on Sudani, who has been facing accusations related to an eavesdropping scandal that originated in his office. more…
- SECURITY: Iraq Buys Korean Air Defense Systems; Militias Intensify Drone And Missile Attacks On Israel, Brace For Retaliation – On September 19, South Korean defense manufacturer LIG Nex1 said it signed a contract worth approximately $2.8 billion to supply the Iraqi military with an unspecified number of batteries of the medium range M-SAM II or Cheongung II air defense system. Between September 22 – 25, the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” a front group for Iran-backed Iraqi militias, launched more than a dozen attacks against military and economic targets across Israel. At least two people were injured at the Israeli port of Eilat during one of those attacks, which employed al-Arfad-type of explosive drones and al-Arqab-type cruise missiles. The Israeli military said it shot down several drones and missiles coming from Iraq before they could reach their targets. The marked increase in the frequency and intensity of the militia attacks followed the serious escalation in violence between Israel and Hezbollah, a key ally of Iran-backed Iraqi militias, and the killing of a senior Kataib Hezbollah commander in an Israeli airstrike near Damascus Airport on September 20. Anticipating counter strikes by Israel, the Kataib Hezbollah militia warned that an attack by Israel inside Iraq would be met with retaliatory action that would target “all facets of American presence” in the country in addition to Israel. In a message posted online, a senior military figure in the group known as Abu Ali al-Askari also urged other “resistance” factions to increase the pace and scale of their operations against Israel, calling the current level of operations “below expectations.” more…
- HUMANITARIAN & HUMAN RIGHTS: Courts To Target “Deviant” Religious Movements With Aggravated Penalties; Iraq Conducts Another Mass Execution – On September 23, Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council instructed courts to take “aggravated legal measures” against members of religious groups that deviate from accepted orthodoxy. In a document circulated by news sites, the Supreme Judicial Council said that several groups and movements have emerged recently that use religions or sects as “cover for their deviant practices that do not conform with the principles, values, or ideas of those religions.” The letter, signed by the head of the Supreme Judicial Council Judge Faeq Zaidan, argues that some of these groups have become a “danger” to the lives of followers of certain religions or sects, requiring the courts to employ stricter penalties. Zaidan did not mention any specific groups or religions by name. On September 25, Iraqi authorities executed 21 prisoners at the Nasiriyah Central Prison in Dhi-Qar province. The prisoners were all convicted on terrorism charges. Rights groups have urged the Iraqi government in recent months to halt executions amid lack of transparency and reports that neither the prisoners nor their lawyers or families were notified in advance. UN human rights experts expressed “deep concern” about these executions, saying the lack of advance notice constitutes “a form of ill-treatment, which renders the subsequent execution contrary to article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.” more…
- ECONOMY & CLIMATE: Oil Exports Down 71,000 BPD In August; Ministries Approve Winter Agricultural Plan – On September 26, Iraq’s Oil Ministry said that August oil exports averaged 3.414 million barrels per day (bpd), about 71,000 bpd below July. The Oil Ministry again neglected to mention the total revenue generated by the exports and the average price at which the oil was sold. Nearly all of the exports came from fields in southern and central Iraq while piped exports from Kirkuk and the Kurdistan region remained suspended. On September 26, Iraq’s Agriculture and Water Resources Ministries approved a winter agricultural plan covering 6.2 million dunams of farmland and orchards (a dunam equals 0.247 acres). The plan includes 3.1 million dunams of farms and orchards irrigated by surface water and another 3.1 million dunams that depend on groundwater from wells. This is a slightly larger agricultural plan than last winter’s, when the ministries approved 1.5 million dunams for irrigation by surface water and four million dunams for irrigation by groundwater from wells. The plan does not appear to account for crops that will depend on rainfall. In other developments, on September 22, the KRG Finance Ministry said it deposited more than IQD 91 billion (approximately $70 million) in the Central Bank account of the federal Finance Ministry as remittance for non-petroleum revenue generated in May 2024. more…
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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.