Key Takeaways:

• Iraq To Disarm, Relocate Kurdish Iranian Dissident Groups By September 19; Court Finds Parts Of The Election Law Unconstitutional – On August 28, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said that Baghdad and Tehran had reached an agreement to disarm “armed terrorist groups” that have presence in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, shut down their camps, and relocate their members elsewhere by September 19. The statement appears to refer to a border security agreement that Iran’s former chief of its supreme national security council, Ali Shamkhani, signed in Baghdad in March. A spokesman for the Iraqi government confirmed that the agreement with Iran covers “preventing the movement of militants, extraditing wanted individuals, the disarmament [of armed groups], and removal of camps,” adding that “Iraq has fulfilled its obligations,” without offering further detail. On August 29, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court ruled that parts of seven articles of Iraq’s election law, which parliament had voted to approve in March, were unconstitutional. The clauses in question deal with the election timeline, eligibility requirements for candidates, the electoral districts for minority quota representatives, defining acts of voter manipulation, and employment for members of the provincial councils that were dissolved in 2019. Some legal experts think the Court’s decision is likely to delay the election, currently scheduled for December 18, as parliament will require additional time to discuss and approve replacements for the struck clauses. In other developments, on August 27, hundreds of protesters began a sit-in blocking the main road between Kirkuk and Erbil after the government decided to allow the KDP to return to its former headquarters in Kirkuk, which was taken over by security forces when they took control of the city in October 2017. The KDP accuses factions from the PMF of staging the protest, which was joined by local Arab and Turkmen groups, to prevent the party from reestablishing its presence in the disputed city. more…
• French Soldier Killed in ISIS Ambush; Khor-Mor Gas Field Attacked With Rockets – On August 29, a member of the French Special Forces was killed in Iraq during a joint raid with Iraqi counter-terrorism troops on an ISIS hideout in Salah ad-Din province. Eight other soldiers, three French and five Iraqi, were also injured during the operation, which was preceded by airstrikes. After apparently surviving the bombardment, the ISIS militants set up an ambush and waited for Iraqi and Coalition troops to come inspect the aftermath, Iraqi officers believe. “It was clearly an ambush by terrorists,” an Iraqi official said. Unnamed Iraqi security officials also said that search operations were ongoing to locate another French soldier who went missing during the fight, though ISHM could not verify this claim. On August 30, oil officials in the Kurdistan region said that two rockets struck near the Khor-Mor gas field in Sulaymaniyah province. There were no reports of casualties associated with the attack, which officials believe originated from the Tuzkhormatu district to the southwest. In other developments, on August 27, an armed Turkish drone killed three PKK militants when it struck a vehicle transporting them in the Penjwin district of Sulaymaniyah. On August 31, a criminal court in Baghdad sentenced an Iranian national and four Iraqis to life in prison after finding them guilty in the murder case of Stephen Troell, a U.S. citizen and English teacher who was killed in Baghdad last November. more…
• Study Reveals Patterns of Migration To Europe – On August 27, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) published a study about the patterns of, and factors affecting migration from Iraq to Europe. The study, based on interviews with 420 former migrants who returned home after living abroad for some time, found that most decisions to migrate were motivated by security concerns, jobs, and calls from family or friends to join them abroad. The study revealed that most respondents, who on average were 30 years old, encountered economic hardship abroad too, including difficulty finding jobs. However, most of those interviewed wanted to stay in Europe indefinitely, and failure to gain asylum was the main reason behind decisions to return to Iraq. Despite these realities, almost half of the interviewed returnees said they planned to make another attempt to migrate, primarily because of unemployment, lack of hope in the future, or poor security. In other developments, on August 8, the Iraqi Ministry for Migration and the Displaced said that a new group of 292 IDPs from Iraq’s Yazidi community had returned voluntarily from IDP camps in Duhok to their districts of origin in Sinjar. more…
• Oil Producers in Kurdistan Threaten To Keep Production Shut Unless Financial Interests Are Addressed; Turkey’s Trade Minister, Water Envoy Visit Baghdad – On August 28, Turkey’s Energy Minister said that maintenance works on the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP) that moves oil from the Kurdistan region and Kirkkuk to the port of Ceyhan were nearing completion. The announcement came a week after Iraqi and Turkish officials said they agreed to restart exports through the pipeline, which have been halted since March 25, “after completing maintenance and testing operations.” However, the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) warned on August 28 that “even if the ITP reopens, member companies of APIKUR will not produce oil for pipeline exports until it is clear how [the companies] will be paid for their contractual entitlement to past and future exported oil.” The group complained that the $6/barrel presumably allocated for production costs in Kurdistan under the Iraqi budget was “insufficient” to cover their costs and profit shares. On August 29, the Turkish Minister of Trade visited Baghdad accompanied by a delegation of trade officials and business leaders and met with PM Sudani. The meeting discussed Turkey’s participation in Iraq’s Development Road project and opportunities for Turkish companies in developing infrastructure projects. On the following day, the Turkish presidential envoy for water, Veysel Eroglu, visited Baghdad and met with President Abdul-Latif Rashid and the Iraqi ministers for water resources and the environment. Rashid’s office said Eroglu gave a presentation about the “works and projects the Turkish side could undertake within the framework of cooperation with Iraq to address the water crisis, desertification, and to develop water management and irrigation methods.” In other developments, on August 30, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry announced the reopening of a direct commercial flight line between Baghdad and the Omani capital, Muscat, after 20 years of suspension. 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.

Iraq To Disarm, Relocate Kurdish Iranian Dissident Groups By September 19; Court Finds Parts Of The Election Law Unconstitutional

On August 27, hundreds of protesters began a sit-in blocking the main road between Kirkuk and Erbil after the government decided to allow the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to return to its former headquarters in Kirkuk, which was taken over by security forces when they took control of the city in October 2017. The KDP accuses factions from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) of staging the protest to prevent the party from reestablishing its presence in the disputed city. News reports indicate that Arab and Turkmen groups in Kirkuk are participating in the protests, who have expressed concern that the KDP’s return to Kirkuk ahead of the provincial election will be destabilizing for the province.  

On August 28, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said that Baghdad and Tehran had reached an agreement to disarm “armed terrorist groups” that have presence in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and relocate their members elsewhere before the end of September. The Iranian spokesman appeared to be referring to a border security agreement that Iran’s former chief of its supreme national security council, Ali Shamkhani, signed in Baghdad in March. Little detail was made public about the agreement then, but Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said at the time that “Shamkhani’s trip took four months of preparations and was “focused on issues related to the armed groups in northern Iraq.” According to the Iranian statement, the deadline given to Iraq to disarm the groups in question, which include the Kurdistan Democratic Party-Iran (KDP-I) and other Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, is September 19. In addition, Iran expects Iraq to take other steps to crack down on these groups, including moving to “close their bases, and relocate them to other locations,” the Iranian spokesman said, without offering more details. Commenting on the Iranian statement, a spokesman for the Iraqi government confirmed that the agreement with Iran covers “preventing the movement of militants, extraditing wanted individuals, the disarmament [of armed groups], and removal of camps,” adding that “Iraq has fulfilled its obligations,” without offering further detail. In what could be a related development, Iran’s Interior Minister arrived in Baghdad on August 29 for talks with his Iraqi counterpart. 

On August 29, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court ruled that parts of seven articles of Iraq’s election law, which parliament had voted to approve in March, were unconstitutional. The clauses found unconstitutional are:

• Article 5, 1st, b: which states that provincial elections must be organized 45 days after the end of the previous election cycle. 
• Article 6, 3rd: which deals with the eligibility requirements for candidates regarding non conviction under specific parts of the penal code. 
• Article 9, 1st, c/d/e: which deal with the electoral districts for minority quota representatives.
• Article 14: which deals with acts of voter manipulation by candidates. 
• Article 21: which requires the federal service council to provide employment for members of the provincial councils that were dissolved in 2019.

Some legal experts think the Court’s decision is likely to delay the next election, currently scheduled for December 18 as parliament will require additional time to discuss and approve replacements for the struck clauses.  

On August 29, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani received a phone call from French President Emmanuel Macron. A statement by Sudani’s office said the conversation focused on enhancing bilateral relations in various sectors, and implementing the strategic partnership agreement between Iraq and France. The statement added that Sudani offered his condolences to the French leader over the loss of a French soldier who died this week fighting alongside Iraqi counter-terrorism troops battling ISIS militants. Additionally, Sudani and Macron discussed Iraq’s planned purchase of Thales air defense radar systems, which was approved by the Council of Ministers earlier that same day. For his part, Macron reaffirmed France’s support for Iraq’s security, sovereignty, and federal democracy, a statement by Macron’s office said. The two leaders also discussed preparations to hold the third edition of the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership, which is scheduled to take place in Baghdad in November. 

Sources cited in this section include: Ultra Iraq, Rudaw, ISHM archive, Reuters, INA, al-Sumaria, al-Mada, Iraqi PM’s office, al-Hurra. 

French Soldier Killed in ISIS Ambush; Khor-Mor Gas Field Attacked With Rockets

On August 26, the Taqaddum party of Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi said that one of its candidates in the upcoming provincial council elections in Salah ad-Din province survived an attempt on his life by unidentified gunmen in al-Sharqat district. An image supposedly of the targeted individual’s vehicle shows multiple bullet holes in the doors and windows.  

On August 27, security sources in Salah ad-Din province said that suspected ISIS militants attacked a federal police checkpoint in al-Qadiriyah region, north of Samarra. The attack wounded one member of the federal police. On the following day, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said that its forces killed an ISIS militant who was involved in the attack on the federal police. 

On August 27, the counter-terrorism service of the Kurdistan region said that an armed Turkish drone struck a vehicle that was transporting members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Penjwin district of Sulaymaniyah province. The airstrike killed three PKK militants who were in the targeted vehicle. 

On August 29, a member of the French Special Forces was killed in Iraq during a joint raid with Iraqi counter-terrorism troops on an ISIS hideout in Salah ad-Din province. Eight other soldiers, three French and five Iraqi, were also injured during the operation, which had targeted a location in al-Eith region of the province, where airstrikes had hit an ISIS hideout earlier. After surviving the airstrikes, the militants set up an ambush and waited for Iraqi and Coalition troops to come inspect the aftermath, Iraqi officers believe. “It was clearly an ambush by terrorists,” an Iraqi official told Reuters. Iraqi security officials in the province told Shafaq that search operations were ongoing to locate another French soldier who went missing during the fight, though ISHM could not verify this claim. This was the third member of the French military to die in Iraq, after a training incident and a traffic accident claimed the lives of two service members in recent weeks.  

On August 30, Iraq’s Joint Operations Command (JOS) said that Iraqi F-16 jets struck several hideouts and tunnels used by ISIS militants in al-Eith region of Salah ad-Din province, where a French soldier was killed earlier when ISIS militants ambushed a joint force of Iraqi and Coalition troops. The latest airstrike killed three ISIS militants, according to the statement by JOS. 

On August 30, oil officials in the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) said that two rockets struck near the Khor-Mor gas field in Sulaymaniyah province. There were no reports of casualties associated with the attack, which officials believe originated from the Tuzkhormatu district to the southwest. The Khor-Mor field, where the vast majority of natural gas in the Kurdistan region is produced, was targeted with rockets on multiple occasions in recent years, most recently with two rockets on January 26.

On August 31, Iraqi judicial sources said that a criminal court in Baghdad had sentenced an Iranian national and four Iraqis to life in prison after finding them guilty in the murder of a U.S. citizen in Baghdad in November of last year. According to the sources, the five men said in their confessions that their intention was to kidnap the victim, aid worker Stephen Troell, to demand ransom for his release. The sources identified the convicted Iranian national as Mohammed Ali Ridha, adding that he was arrested in Najaf during a subsequent trip to Iraq. Mr. Troell was an aid worker with an English language institute in Baghdad. He was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in the Karrada neighborhood of central Baghdad on November 7, 2022.

Sources cited in this section include: Mawazin, al-Sumaria, INA, Nas News, Reuters, Shafaq, Ultra Iraq, Rudaw, ISHM archive, al-Hurra, AP.

Study Reveals Patterns of Migration To Europe

On August 25, the Iraqi Ministry for Migration and the Displaced said that a new group of 292 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Iraq’s Yazidi community had returned voluntarily from IDP camps in Duhok to their districts of origin in Sinjar. Earlier this month, ministry officials said the number of Yazidi IDPs who had returned to Sinjar this year was approximately 4,000 people in 800 households.

On August 27, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) published a study about the patterns and factors affecting migration from Iraq to Europe. The study, based on interviews with 420 former migrants who returned home after living abroad for some time, found that most of those returnees were on average 30 years old. Most decisions to migrate were motivated by security, jobs, and calls from family or friends to join them abroad. The study revealed that most respondents encountered economic obstacles abroad too, including difficulty finding jobs. However, most of those interviewed wanted to stay in Europe indefinitely, but failure to gain asylum was the main reason behind decisions to return to Iraq. Despite these realities, almost one in two interviewed returnees said they planned to make another attempt to migrate, primarily because of unemployment, lack of hope in the future, or poor security.

Sources cited in this section include: Reliefweb, ISHM archive, Rudaw.

Oil Producers in Kurdistan Threaten To Keep Production Shut Unless Financial Interests Are Addressed; Turkey’s Trade Minister, Water Envoy Visit Baghdad

On August 28, Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister, Alparslan Bayraktar, said that maintenance works on the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP) that moves crude oil from the Kurdistan region and Kirkkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan were nearing completion. The announcement came a week after Iraqi and Turkish top officials had talks about resuming the exports through the pipeline, which have been halted since March 25. After a meeting between Iraq’s Oil Minister, Hayan Abdul-Ghani, and Bayraktar on August 21, the two sides said they agreed to restart exports “after completing maintenance and testing operations that became necessary after the February 6, 2023 earthquake.” But Iraqi officials say other obstacles remain. A member of the parliamentary energy committee said on August 27 that during last week’s talks, Turkish officials raised multiple demands as conditions for allowing exports to resume. According to lawmaker Sabah Subhi, the demands include dropping all claims against Turkey in connection with the ITP arbitration case, payment of late pipeline transit fees at $7/barrel, and offering a $13 discount on Iraqi crude sold to Turkey. And there are signs that the resumption of exports might need additional efforts by Baghdad and Erbil to integrate Kurdistan’s oil sector into Iraq’s economy. The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) warned on August 28 that “even if the ITP reopens, member companies of APIKUR will not produce oil for pipeline exports until it is clear how IOCs will be paid for their contractual entitlement to past and future exported oil.” The group complained that the $6/barrel presumably allocated for oil production costs in Kurdistan under the Iraqi budget was “insufficient” to compensate them for production costs and profits to which their contracts entitle them. 

On August 29, the Turkish Minister of Trade, Omer Bolat, visited Baghdad accompanied by a delegation of Turkish trade officials and business leaders and met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani. The meeting, which comes just days after Ankara’s foreign and energy ministers visited Baghdad and Erbil, discussed Turkey’s participation in Iraq’s Development Road project and opportunities for Turkish companies in developing infrastructure projects in Iraq, a statement by Sudani’s office said. The visiting minister also held talks with his Iraqi counterpart, Atheer al-Ghurairi, that focused on expanding bilateral trade, facilitating investments, and activating joint committees and existing agreements, a statement by Iraq’s Trade Ministry said. 

On August 30, the Turkish presidential envoy for water, Veysel Eroglu, visited Baghdad and met with Iraqi President Abdul-Latif Rashid and the Iraqi ministers for water resources and the environment. During the talks, Rashid stressed the importance of providing Iraq with details about Turkey’s water operations and setting limits for minimum water volumes released to Iraq through the Tigris and Euphrates from Turkey. Rashid also told the Turkish envoy that Iraq was preparing to present a number of proposals to Turkey to negotiate and agree on “a final and feasible result regarding water shares.” A statement by Rashid’s office said Eroglu gave a presentation about the “works and projects the Turkish side could undertake within the framework of cooperation with Iraq to address the water crisis, desertification, and to develop water management and irrigation methods.” The statement did not provide more information about the ideas presented by Turkey. 

On August 30, Iraq’s Foreign Affairs Ministry announced the reopening of a new direct commercial flight line between Baghdad and the Omani capital, Muscat, after 20 years of suspension. The direct flights will be operated three times a week by SalamAir, a budget airline formed in Oman in 2016. The first flight along the reestablished line arrived in Baghdad from Muscat on Thursday.

Sources cited in this section include: Mawazin, ISHM archive, Rudaw, APIKUR, Iraqi PM’s office, INA, al-Sumaria, Iraq’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.

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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