Key Takeaways:

• POLITICS: Iraq Condemns Israeli Strikes on Iran, Airspace Violations; Federal Supreme Court Hit with Resignations – On June 13, Iraq’s Foreign Affairs Ministry submitted a formal complaint to the UN Security Council regarding Israel’s violation of Iraqi airspace to conduct strikes against Iran. The ministry said Baghdad demanded that the Security Council undertake its “legal and moral responsibility” to deter Israel from repeating these violations. Meanwhile, government sources said Baghdad had sent “a strongly worded message” to Washington, asking it to prevent Israeli warplanes from crossing Iraq’s airspace, invoking U.S. obligations under the bilateral Strategic Framework Agreement. On the same day, Prime Minister Sudani met with the Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq and the Commander of the International Coalition forces against ISIS to discuss the situation created by Israel’s attacks on Iran. Sudani said Iraq considers the Israeli strikes a violation of international law that threatens the security of Iraq and the region. He added that the timing of the attack—while diplomatic efforts were still ongoing—reflected a deliberate intention to escalate and drag the region into a wider confrontation. Sudani said the international community should take direct steps to prevent the region from sliding into an uncontrolled spiral of violence. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani also strongly condemned Israel’s military campaign, stressing the need for a peaceful resolution to Iran’s nuclear file and warning that targeting Iran’s top religious and political leadership would lead to “severely dire consequences for the entire region.” On June 19, news reports citing sources from the Federal Supreme Court (FSC) said that nine members of the Court had submitted their resignations. The resignations come at a time when the FSC is expected to deal with two sensitive cases: a deadlock over public sector salaries in the Kurdistan region and maritime border disputes with Kuwait. On Thursday, the FSC postponed a session scheduled to address these issues due to a lack of quorum. The nine judges (six active and three reserve members of the FSC) reportedly resigned due to political pressure from the government to align their decisions with its policies. Correspondence between FSC president Judge Jasim al-Omairi and Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani appears to partially support these reports. In a letter addressed to Mashhadani on June 17, Omairi urged political leaders to meet and reach a consensus on these sensitive issues so the FSC could “avoid making contradictory decisions” and “preserve the dignity” of the institution. Omairi added that the FSC was “fully prepared” to act in accordance with the outcome. Mashhadani, however, rejected the proposal, and his response appeared to suggest that the real problem lies in disagreements within the judicial authority and the FSC itself. more…
• SECURITY & HUMANITARIAN: Militias Threaten Attacks on U.S. Interests If Washington Attacks Iran – On June 15, Kataib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq threatened to attack U.S. forces and interests in the region if Washington joins Israel in its military campaign against Iran. In a statement, Kataib Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, declared: “If America intervenes in the war, we will act directly against its interests and bases spread across the region without hesitation.” Meanwhile, the military spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq renewed his group’s “allegiance to [Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei],” warning the U.S. specifically against targeting Iran’s leader. As soon as Israel commenced its strikes on Iran, Asaib issued a call to “resistance” fighters to be ready to stand with Iran, stressing that Israel’s “crimes and violations will not pass without severe punishment.” Another pro-Iran militia, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, accused U.S. military advisers in Iraq of conspiring to shut down Iraq’s air defense radars to facilitate the passage of Israeli warplanes through Iraqi airspace en route to Iran. The group’s leader, Abu Ala al-Walaie, said the matter necessitates the expulsion of U.S. personnel from the headquarters of Iraq’s Joint Operations Command. By contrast, Muqtada al-Sadr stressed in a message posted online that “Iraq and its people do not need new wars.” While Sadr condemned Israel’s attack, the violation of Iraqi airspace, and U.S. support for Israel, he also called for silencing “ugly unilateral voices” that seek to pull Iraq into the conflict. Sadr called for peaceful mass protests against the U.S. and Israel this Friday. In other developments, on June 15, the Iraqi military deployed short-range Pantsir-1 air defense systems in parts of southern Iraq as a precautionary measure amid hostilities between Iran and Israel. Since Israel launched its latest strikes on Iran late last week, there have been numerous reports of rocket boosters, drones, and fuel tanks crashing across Iraq as Israel and Iran continued to exchange fire over Iraq’s airspace, but there were no reports of casualties associated with any of the incidents. more…
• ECONOMY & CLIMATE: Conflict Shuts Down Iraq’s Airspace; Border with Syria Officially Open; Power Grid Sabotaged Near Basra – On June 14, Iraq’s Transportation Ministry said the country’s airspace had been closed to commercial traffic as a security measure amid hostilities between Iran and Israel. By Monday, authorities had restarted limited operations at Basra Airport, allowing a few emergency flights between Basra and several regional destinations to help Iraqis stuck abroad return home. International airlines have suspended flights to airports in Iraq, Iran, Israel, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon amid continuing strikes, and maps from flight-tracking websites show a virtually empty airspace from the Mediterranean in the west to Iran’s borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan in the east. On June 14, Iraq’s Border Ports Commission announced that the al-Qaim/Albu-Kamal border crossing between Iraq and Syria had officially reopened to the movement of passengers and goods. The first Syrian truck crossed the border on Saturday after passing through inspection, customs, and passport controls, the Commission said in a statement, inaugurating traffic through the crossing, which has been closed since December during the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. On June 18, Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity said that two high-voltage pylons in Basra were “deliberately sabotaged,” resulting in a loss of 300 megawatts in the power grid. Images shared by the ministry show the 132-kilovolt pylons lying flat on the ground. Authorities have opened an investigation into the incident, which took place near Khor al-Zubeir, southwest of Basra. In the past, insurgents and ISIS militants have targeted the power grid with explosives to cut power to cities and towns, though such attacks were never common in the southern provinces. Power lines have also been targeted by scavengers seeking to extract valuable components like copper to sell for profit. 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.

POLITICS: Iraq Condemns Israeli Strikes on Iran, Airspace Violations; Federal Supreme Court Hit with Resignations

On June 13, Iraq’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Baghdad has submitted a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel’s violation of Iraqi airspace to conduct strikes against Iran. In a statement, the ministry said the complaint stressed that such actions represent a “flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty” and the principles of international law and the UN Charter. In its complaint, Baghdad demanded that the Security Council undertake its “legal and moral responsibility” to deter Israel from repeating these violations. Meanwhile, Iraqi government sources told the country’s official news agency that Baghdad has sent “a strongly worded message” to Washington asking it to take action to prevent Israeli warplanes from crossing Iraq’s airspace. The message invoked the bilateral Strategic Framework Agreement to insist that the U.S., as the leader of the International Coalition, must act to prevent violations of Iraq’s sovereignty, the sources added. 

On June 13, Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani met with the Chargé d’Affaires of the United States Embassy in Iraq, Steven Fagin, and the Commander of the International Coalition forces against ISIS, General Kevin Leahy, to discuss the situation created by Israel’s latest attacks on Iran. During the meeting, Sudani reaffirmed Iraq’s firm position that the Israeli strikes constitute a violation of international law and an act of aggression that threatens regional and global security, a statement by Sudani’s office said. Sudani expressed his belief that the timing of the attack—while diplomatic efforts were still ongoing—reveals a deliberate intention to escalate and drag the region into a wider confrontation. Sudani also reiterated Iraq’s rejection of the use of its territory or airspace to carry out or facilitate any hostile acts against neighboring countries. He affirmed Iraq’s sovereign right and responsibility to protect its own territory, asserting that the Iraqi government will take all legal measures necessary toward that end, and called on all international parties to respect this principle. Sudani also stressed the urgent need for the international community—particularly the UN Security Council—to take direct steps to reaffirm the prohibition on the use of force and to prevent the region from sliding into an uncontrolled spiral of violence. For their part, the Chargé d’Affaires and the Coalition Commander emphasized Washington’s commitment to keeping Iraq out of the conflict in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement signed between the two nations. Sudani reiterated Baghdad’s position at a subsequent meeting on June 16 with a group of foreign ambassadors, where he also expressed Iraq’s solidarity with Iran and condemned Israel’s military campaign as a threat to regional peace and Iraq’s own stability and security. 

On June 18, a spokesperson for Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said the commission had no plans for further extensions of the deadline for eligible voters to update their records beyond June 20. According to the spokesperson, Jumana al-Gahali, a total of 2,054,176 eligible voters have updated their voter records across Iraq, bringing the total number of registered voters to 21,328,073 as of Wednesday. Remarkably, this number is lower than the total number of registered voters reported by IHEC during the previous parliamentary elections of 2021, which stood at 22,116,368.

On June 19, several news reports citing sources from the Federal Supreme Court (FSC) said that nine members of the Court have submitted their resignation. The resignations come at a time when the FSC is expected to deal with two sensitive cases: deadlock over public sector salaries in the Kurdistan region, and maritime border disputes with Kuwait. On Thursday, the FSC postponed a session scheduled to issue a new ruling in disputes between the federal government and the Kurdistan regional government over budget and salaries due to lack of quorum. The FSC was also expected to make a decision about appeals submitted by President Rashid and Prime Minister Sudani seeking to repeal a 2023 FSC decision that nullified the 2013 treaty with Kuwait concerning maritime borders. This session has now been rescheduled to June 25. According to the reports, the nine judges (six active and three reserve members of the FSC) resigned due to political pressure from the government to align their decisions with government policies. Correspondence between FSC president, judge Jasim al-Omairi, and parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani appear to partially support these reports. In a letter addressed to Mashhadani on June 17, Omairi urged political leaders to meet and come to a consensus about these sensitive issues in order to “avoid making contradictory decisions” and “preserve the dignity” of the judiciary and the public’s confidence in the institution. Omairi added that the FSC was “fully prepared” to act in accordance with the outcome. Mashhadani’s response appeared to suggest that the real problem lies in disagreements within the judicial authority and the FSC itself. The speaker rejected the idea of convening political leaders to provide guidance for the court, arguing that this would undermine the judiciary’s independence.  

On June 19, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani strongly condemned Israel’s ongoing military campaign by Israel against Iran and threats targeting Iran’s top religious and political leadership. A statement from Sistani’s office in Najaf said the senior cleric warned that acting on such threats would lead to “severely dire consequences for the entire region.” It added that targeting Iran’s leadership could cause the conflict to spiral out of control and produce “widespread chaos that would only deepen the suffering of the region’s peoples and gravely harm the interests of all involved.” Sistani appealed to the international community to “exert their utmost efforts to halt this unjust war and to work toward a just and peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear file,” the statement concluded. 

Sources cited in this section include: Mawazin, INA, Iraqi PM’s office, Shafaq, IHEC, Rudaw, Kurdistan24, PUKMedia, Bas News, al-Sumaria.

SECURITY & HUMANITARIAN: Militias Threaten Attacks on U.S. Interests If Washington Attacks Iran

On June 15, Kataib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq threatened to attack U.S. forces and interests in the region if Washington joins Israel in its military campaign against Iran. In a statement, Kataib Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, declared that: “If America intervenes in the war, we will act directly against its interests and bases spread across the region without hesitation.” Meanwhile, the military spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq renewed his group’s “allegiance for [Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei], warning the U.S. specifically against targeting Iran’s leader. As soon as Israel commenced its strikes on Iran, the Asaib had issued a call to “resistance” fighters to be ready to stand with Iran, stressing that Israel’s “crimes and violations will not pass without severe punishment.” Another pro-Iran militia, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, accused the U.S. military advisers in Iraq of conspiring to shut down Iraq’s air defense radars to facilitate the passage of Israeli warplanes through Iraq’s airspace enroute to Iran. The group’s leader, Abu Ala al-Walaie, said the matter necessitates the expulsion of U.S. personnel from the headquarters of Iraq’s Joint Operations Command. But not all militia leaders see involvement in the war between Israel and Iran as a viable option. Muqtada al-Sadr, who leads the large Saraya al-Salam militia, stressed in a message posted online that “Iraq and its people do not need new wars.” While Sadr condemned Israel’s attack, the violation of Iraqi airspace, and U.S. support for Israel, he also called for silencing “ugly unilateral voices” that seek to pull Iraq into the conflict. Sadr called for peaceful mass protests against the U.S. and Israel this Friday.   

On June 15, Iraqi security sources said the military has deployed Pantsir-1 air defense systems in parts of southern Iraq as a precautionary measure amid hostilities between Iran and Israel in which the two countries exchanged airstrikes and missiles in the skies over Iraq. Footage circulating online shows the short range mobile air defense systems being deployed near oil fields in southern Iraq. Since Israel launched its latest strikes on Iran late last week, there have been many reports of rocket boosters, drones, and fuel tanks crashing across Iraq as Israel and Iran continued to exchange fire across Iraq’s airspace. In Dhi-Qar province, local sources said Israeli missiles intercepted by Iran crashed near the district of al-Chibayish south of Nasiriyah, leaving deep craters. In Diyala, security sources reported at least five projectiles and parts of projectiles crashed in various areas of the province. In Erbil, an object fell near the US consulate on June 15, causing a large fireball. That day, approximately a dozen drones launched by Iran against Israel crashed across Anbar province. There was one report of a drone being intercepted and shot down over Ain al-Assad air base in Anbar. It wasn’t clear whether the drone was targeting the base itself. Meanwhile, parts of Iranian ballistic missiles made impact in open spaces in Ninewa and Salah ad-Din province. There were no reports of casualties associated with any of these incidents. News of crashed drones continued to come in throughout the week from several provinces, including Ninewa, Erbil, and Muthanna without reports of casualties or damage.  

Sources cited in this section include: Shafaq, Reuters, Twitter, 964Media, Rudaw, NRT, al-Sumaria, Iraq Observer. 

ECONOMY & CLIMATE: Conflict Shuts Down Iraq’s Airspace; Border with Syria Officially Open; Power Grid Sabotaged Near Basra

On June 14, Iraq’s Transportation Ministry said the country’s airspace has been closed to civilian traffic as a security measure amid hostilities between Iran and Israel in which the two countries exchanged airstrikes and missiles across Iraq’s airspace. By Monday, authorities decided to restart limited operations at the Basra airport, allowing emergency flights between Basra and several regional destinations to help Iraqis stuck abroad to return home. Reports indicate that the airport received about a dozen flights on Tuesday arriving from airports in India, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, the UAE, and Bahrain. Airlines have suspended flights to airports in Iraq, Iran, Israel, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon amid continuing strikes, and maps from flight tracking websites show a virtually empty airspace from the Mediterranean in the west to Iran’s borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan in the east.

On June 14, Iraq’s Border Ports Commission announced that the al-Qaim/Albu-Kamal border crossing between Iraq and Syria has officially been reopened to the movement of passengers and goods. The first Syrian truck crossed the border on Saturday after passing through inspection, customs, and passport controls, the Commission said in a statement, inaugurating traffic through the crossing, which has been closed since December during the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. The reopening of the border crossing, which was initially expected to happen in February, is seen by Syrian and Iraqi officials as a strategic step towards reviving economic ties between the two countries. 

On June 18, Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity said that two high voltage pylons in Basra were “deliberately sabotaged,” resulting in a loss of 300 megawatts in the power grid. Images shared by the ministry show the 132 kilovolt pylons lying flat on the ground. Authorities have opened an investigation into the incident, which took place near Khor al-Zubeir, to the southwest of Basra. In the past, insurgents and ISIS militants have targeted the power grid with explosives to cut power to cities and towns, though such attacks were never common in southern provinces. Power lines have also been targeted by scavengers seeking to extract valuable components, like copper, to sell for profit. 

Sources cited in this section include: INA, al-Sumaria, Baghdad Today, Reuters, Flight Aware, ISHM archive, Shafaq, Iraq Observer. 

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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