Key Takeaways:

• Cabinet Sends Multi-Year Budget To Lawmakers; Sudani Claims Breakthrough In Disputes With Erbil – On March 13, PM Sudnai’s cabinet approved a draft federal budget bill and referred it to parliament for ratification. The new bill covers three years through 2025. The IQD197.8 trillion spending bill for 2023 is based on oil prices of $70/barrel and includes IQD150.2 trillion in operational spending and IQD47.5 trillion for investments, with a deficit of IQD63.2 trillion. On the same day, PM Sudani announced a breakthrough in the thorny disputes between the federal government and the KRG over oil exports and revenue. According to Sudani, the two sides agreed that all of the revenue generated from oil produced from the Kurdistan region would be deposited “without any deductions” into an account controlled by the KRG prime minister and supervised by the federal government. Sudani said this “understanding” confirms that the two sides are “moving towards passing the oil and gas law.” In other developments, on March 13, the cabinet approved a draft bill to establish the district of Halabja as Iraq’s 19th province and referred it to parliament for ratification. more…
• Counter-Terrorism Troops Kill 22 ISIS Militants; Unidentified Helicopter Crash Kills Seven Kurdish Fighters – On March 12, Iraqi commanders said counter-terrorism troops conducted a complex, multi-stage operation against ISIS militants between al-Qaim and Rutba in Anbar province in which they killed 22 militants, including the top ISIS commanders in Fallujah and Iraq’s southern provinces. On March 16, an AS350 Eurocopter crashed in the Chamanke region of Duhok province, killing at least seven people onboard. Kurdish officials said all passengers were members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Tukey, the Iraqi government, and the U.S.-led coalition have all denied knowledge of the helicopter’s identity. In other developments, on March 11, PM Sudani approved a plan to establish a new police academy that will be based in Basra. On March 15-16, one protester was killed and another was seriously injured when security forces and unidentified gunmen fired on protesters demanding better public services in Baghdad and Nasiriyah. more…
• Renewables To Provide One Third Of Electricity By 2030; KRG Receives New Funds From Baghdad; Iraq Revives Refinery Construction Plans – On March 12, PM Sudani announced a number of government measures to mitigate the impact of climate change on the country that include planting five million trees, initiatives to reduce emissions and capture natural gas, and more renewable energy projects. Specifically, Sudani set a target to generate a third of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030. On March 13, the KRG Finance Ministry said it received a new payment of IQD400 billion from the Iraqi government to pay the salaries of KRG civil servants. On March 15, Iraq’s Oil Ministry said it began soliciting offers from investors to develop three refineries in Maysan, Qayyara, and Basra, with plans to begin soliciting offers for three other refineries in Dhi-Qar, al-Kut, and Samawa in April. In other developments, on March 13, Iran’s Minister for Economic and Financial Affairs said that trade with Iraq grew 20% this year compared to the previous (Persian calendar) year. On March 14, Iraq’s Planning Ministry data showed that there were 48,533 private power generators operating across 15 provinces serving a total of 6.7 million subscribers who paid nearly IQD3.5 trillion a year. 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.

Cabinet Sends Multi-Year Budget To Lawmakers; Sudani Claims Breakthrough In Disputes With Erbil

On March 13, Iraq’s Council of Ministers voted to approve a draft bill to establish the district of Halabja as the 19th province of the country. A government statement said the Council had referred the draft bill to the Iraqi parliament for ratification. Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi said later that he would support the efforts to “complete the legal procedures” to make Halabja a province.   

On March 13, Iraq’s Council of Ministers voted to approve a new draft federal budget bill and referred it to the Iraqi parliament for ratification. A government statement said the new bill represents a multi-year budget, covering three years, 2023, 2024, and 2025. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Prime Minister Sudani shared an outline of the IQD197.8 trillion spending bill, which is to be funded primarily through oil exports at an average of 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd), of which 400,000 bpd would be contributed by the Kurdistan region. According to Sudani, oil exports would generate IQD117.2 trillion, assuming an average price of $70 per barrel. Meanwhile, non-oil revenues would contribute another IQD17.3 trillion, leaving a deficit of IQD63.2 trillion. Operational expenses, which include public sector salaries and pensions, amount to IQD150.2 trillion, while the investment part of the budget stands at IQD47.5 trillion. In remarks delivered at the Sulaymaniyah Forum on March 17, Central Bank of Iraq governor Ali al-Allaq warned that relying on the Bank to cover budget deficits was a “dangerous” practice that undermines fiscal stability.   

On March 13, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani announced a breakthrough in the thorny disputes between the federal government and the KRG over oil exports and revenue. According to Sudani, the two sides have agreed that all of the revenue generated from crude oil and other fuels produced from the Kurdistan region’s fields would be deposited “without any deductions” into an account controlled by the KRG prime minister and supervised by the federal government. The prime minister said this “understanding” confirms that the two sides are “moving towards passing the oil and gas law.” On the following day, Sudani began a visit to the Kurdistan region, where he met with Kurdish leaders from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Erbil, and later with leaders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Sulaymaniyah. At a meeting with KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, Sudani stressed that his government “has the will and serious desire to settle these outstanding issues and move to wider horizons of joint work and economic opportunities.” For his part, Barzani described his talks with Sudani as “candid,” adding that he “sensed strong interest in resolving disputes in accordance with the constitution.”

On March 13, Iraq’s Integrity Commission said that a Baghdad court had issued a warrant for the arrest of the former chairman of the Sunni Endowment office on charges related to a contract with a Japanese company to rebuild the Grand Mosque of Mosul. According to the Commission, the Endowment released IQD42 billion in down payments to the company but failed to recover the funds after the ISIS occupation of Mosul prevented the company from implementing the work. On the following day, the Commission said that a court in Salah ad-Din had issued a new warrant for the arrest of former governor Ammar al-Jabr on charges related to corruption in the award of a contract during his tenure as head of the province’s investment commission.  Jabr was previously sentenced in absentia to ten years in prison after he was found guilty on charges of corruption and misuse of public funds. 

On March 13, former Finance Minister Ali Allawi issued a strongly-worded response to recent court orders to freeze his assets, along with other members of former Prime Minister Mustaf al-Kadhimi’s team, on alleged complicity in the infamous theft of $2.5 billion from government accounts holding tax deposits. Allawi said he “totally and utterly” rejected those “baseless charges” that he had facilitated the theft. The veteran statesman said these charges were “preceded with a torrent of leaks against me on social media” that were followed by what he called “an unprofessional…and clearly biased appearance on TV by the investigative judge … where he pointed an accusatory finger at me… before any charges had been made.” He then argues that the accusations were either a result of “serious errors in the investigative process,” or that he became “a scapegoat.. so as to cover-up on the true culprits.” Allawi concludes by vowing to ”devote the rest of my time to uncovering the ramifications of the theft of the century, from its planners, executors, accomplices and beneficiaries to those who have systematically covered up this crime and foisted an outrageous charge on a completely innocent party. I shall help to expose them and bring them to justice.”

Sources cited in this section include: Iraqi PM’s office, Kurdistan24, INA, Nas News, al-Sumaria, Rudaw, Shafaq, ISHM archives. 

Counter-Terrorism Troops Kill 22 ISIS Militants; Unidentified Helicopter Crash Kills Seven Kurdish Fighters

On March 11, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani approved a plan to establish a new police academy to increase the Interior Ministry’s capacity to absorb new recruits and qualification courses. The new school, which would be the country’s second, is to be based in Basra.  

On March 12, the commander of Iraq’s counter-terrorism service (CTS) said that CTS troops working with Iraq’s national intelligence service had conducted a complex, multi-stage operation against ISIS militants in an area between al-Qaim and Rutba in Anbar province. According to the commander, lieutenant general Abdul-Wahab al-Saidi, the operation, which involved the insertion of troops by aircraft, led to the killing of 22 militants, including the top ISIS commanders in Fallujah and Iraq’s southern provinces. 

On March 12, security sources in Salah ad-Din province said that ISIS militants had executed a local sheep herder the militants had kidnapped on February 26. According to Rudaw, the militants had posted footage showing the victim’s execution on social media accounts affiliated with the terrorist group. 

On March 15, an Iraqi military spokesman said that army troops and  Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fighters killed three ISIS militants in an ambush in the Tarmiyah district, north of Baghdad. A statement by the PMF put the number of ISIS members killed at four, and said that one PMF fighter was also killed in the fighting. 

On March 15, Shafaq reported that fighters from the PMF 13th regiment in the Hamdaniyah district of Ninewa had been demonstrating against orders attaching their units to the PMF 50th brigade (the Babylon militia of Rayan al-Kildani). According to the report, several members of the regiment were arrested by PMF security and taken to Mosul, sparking renewed protests. 

On March 15, NRT reported that a civilian was killed in the Kadhimiyah district of Baghdad when security forces (federal police) opened fire on demonstrators who were demanding better electricity and other public services. Security forces reportedly arrested dozens of young men from the area after the incident. To the south, in Nasiriyah, security sources said that unidentified gunmen opened fire from a moving vehicle on demonstrators demanding better public services, severely wounding one demonstrator.  

On March 16, the counter-terrorism service of the Kurdistan region said that a helicopter had crashed overnight in the Chamanke region of Duhok province, killing everyone onboard. Kurdish officials contacted Tukey, the Iraqi government, and the U.S.-led coalition about the incident, but all three said the helicopter, identified as an AS350 Erocopter, did not belong to them. Security sources said they found the bodies of seven passengers who were on that helicopter, adding that four of them were men and three were women, all appeared between the ages of 25 and 45. The governor of Duhok said all passengers were members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), adding that a second helicopter that was flying with the downed aircraft continued its course and disappeared from the scene. A PKK spokesperson told AP that the helicopter may have been a U.S.-led coalition aircraft transporting Syrian Kurdish fighters.

Sources cited in this section include: Shafaq, INA, al-Sumaria, Nas News, AP, Rudaw, Kurdistan24, NINA.

Renewables To Provide One Third Of Electricity By 2030; KRG Receives New Funds From Baghdad; Iraq Revives Refinery Construction Plans

On March 12, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani announced a number of government measures to tackle the impact of climate change on the country. Speaking at the opening of the two-day Iraq Climate Conference in Basra, Sudnai acknowledged that drought and water scarcity had impacted seven million Iraqi, forcing many thousands to abandon their homes. Among the measures to mitigate the effects of water scarcity and climate change, the prime minister said his government would plant five million trees, develop initiatives to reduce emissions, capture natural gas that is being flared, and create more renewable energy projects. Specifically, Sudani set a target to generate a third of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030. 

On March 13, Iran’s Minister for Economic and Financial Affairs, Ihsan Khandori, said that bilateral trade between Iran and Iraq grew by 20% during the first 11 months (of the Persian calendar) compared to the previous year. Khadori was in Baghdad where he and his Iraqi counterpart, Atheer al-Ghrairi, attended the fifth meeting of the joint committee between Iraq and Iran. Ghrairi said the two sides discussed several areas of economic cooperation, including free trade zones, railroad connections, banking, energy, and water and borders. 

On March 13, the Finance Ministry in the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) said it had received a payment of IQD400 billion from the Iraqi government to be used to pay the salaries of the KRG civil servants. The confirmation came about two weeks after reports that the KRG and federal government had reached a preliminary agreement about the KRG’s share of the federal budget. It is unclear whether the latest payment came in the form of a loan through the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) under an arrangement that was revealed in news reports last week. 

On March 13, the financial committee in Iraq’s parliament said it was preparing a new pay schedule for the government’s consideration that would raise the salary of the lowest pay grade in the public sector by 50% to cope with inflation and improve living standards. According to Atwan al-Atwani, the chairman of the committee, government employees in the lowest grade (grade 10) would receive IQD425,000 per month when the new system is approved. 

On March 14, Iraq’s Planning Ministry released new statistics about the private power generators sector in Iraq, which most Iraqi households rely on to complement service from the national grid. The data, which exclude the Kurdistan region, shows that there were 48,533 generators operating across 15 provinces serving a total of 6.7 million subscribers who paid a total of nearly IQD3.5 trillion a year. The sector employs an estimated 44,640 workers who earn an average of approximately IQD4.5 million a year.  Collectively, these generators supplied 25.8 million amperes of electrical current. 

On March 15, Iraq’s Oil Ministry said it was seeking investors to develop seven long-delayed refinery projects across the country. According to Oil Minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani, Iraq began soliciting offers for three of those seven projects as of March 15. Those include a 150,000 bpd refinery in Maysan, a 70,000 bpd refinery in Qayyara, and a 30,000 bpd fuel oil hydrogenation unit in Basra. The ministry will begin soliciting offers for three other refineries in Dhi-Qar, al-Kut, and Samawa, with capacities of 150,000 bpd, 100,000 bpd, and 70,000 bpd, respectively, on April 2. A seventh request for proposals for a 70,000 bpd refinery in Haditha will be released at a later date, the minister added.

On March 16, Iraq’s Ministry of Industries reopened the al-Qaim cement factory with a production capacity of 1 million tons per year. Iraq recently finished rebuilding the factory, which had been badly damaged during the war with ISIS. 

Sources cited in this section include: Nas News, INA, Iraq’s Oil Ministry, al-Sumaria, Kurdistan24, ISHM archives.

Derived from firsthand accounts and Iraq-based Arabic and Kurdish news sources, the Iraq Security and Humanitarian Monitor is a free publication of the Enabling Peace in Iraq Center.

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