Key Takeaways:

• POLITICS: PM Sudani Gets His Own Bloc in Parliament; A Third of Lawmakers Oppose Ratification of Treaty with Kuwait – On July 12, a group of 54 lawmakers announced the formation of a new bloc in parliament under the leadership of Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani. The bloc, called the Construction and Development Bloc (Kotlat al-E’mar wal Tanmiyah), includes at least seven independents and seven members who appear to have defected from the State of Law bloc of former PM Nouri al-Maliki. Its formation follows Sudani’s launch of an electoral coalition with the same name in May. On July 13, 110 lawmakers signed a letter to the speaker of parliament opposing the ratification of a maritime border treaty with Kuwait. Representing a third of Iraq’s 329-seat legislature, the group insists that the government must first implement Federal Supreme Court (FSC) rulings related to the treaty. Their move appears aimed at blocking efforts to resubmit the treaty for ratification after its nullification by the FSC in 2023, which strained ties with Kuwait and the GCC. In other developments, on July 16, parliament conducted a second reading of a draft law to regulate the structure and functions of the Popular Mobilization Committee (PMC), which oversees the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Sunni and Kurdish blocs boycotted the session after the bill was added to the agenda without prior notice. more…
• SECURITY & HUMANITARIAN: Most of Kurdistan Oil Production Suspended as Fields Face Unprecedented Drone Attacks – On July 14, two explosive drones of unknown origin struck the Khormala oil field southwest of Erbil, damaging infrastructure. Operated by the KAR Group, Khormala is part of the larger Kirkuk oil field and is Kurdistan’s biggest producer. Hours later, a drone hit the Sarsang field in Duhok province, causing a large fire and prompting operator HKN to halt production. A fourth drone crashed near the Khor-Mor gas field in Chemchemal district. Attacks continued through the week. On July 16, the Ain Sifni oil field in Duhok, run by U.S.-based Hunt Oil, was struck twice by drones, igniting fires. That same day, three drones hit storage tanks and production units at the Tawke and Peshkhabir fields in Zakho, operated by Norwegian firm DNO, forcing a production shutdown. Two more drone attacks followed on July 18—one in Shmamik southwest of Erbil, and another near Tawke. The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) said that most of its members—including those not directly targeted, like Gulf Keystone Petroleum—had suspended production totaling over 200,000 barrels per day. The region previously produced about 285,000 bpd. The KRG condemned the attacks and urged Baghdad to “take urgent and necessary measures” to stop them and punish those responsible. PM Sudani ordered a “comprehensive investigation.” The U.S. embassy in Baghdad also condemned the strikes, calling them “unacceptable,” a blow to Iraq’s sovereignty, and a deterrent to foreign investment. more…
• ECONOMY & CLIMATE: Baghdad and Erbil Announce New Deal on Oil, Revenue, and Salaries – On July 16, the KRG said it reached a “new understanding” with the federal government to secure its financial entitlements, including public sector salaries. The following day, PM Sudani’s cabinet confirmed approval of the deal. Under the agreement, the KRG will deliver 230,000 bpd of oil to the federal government, which will reimburse the KRG for production and transport costs at $16 per barrel. The remaining 50,000 bpd will be used domestically, with net revenue sent to the federal treasury. Future production increases will be allocated for export through the federal Oil Ministry. The KRG will also send IQD 120 billion to Baghdad, representing the federal share of Kurdistan’s May non-oil revenues. In return, the federal government will begin funding salaries in Kurdistan once the Oil Ministry confirms receipt of the 230,000 bpd at Ceyhan storage depots. Joint teams will handle reconciliation of oil payments, assess non-oil revenues, verify domestic fuel consumption, and finalize the domiciliation of salaries in line with FSC rulings. The deal does not appear to address the sticky issue of honoring the commercial terms of foreign il companies operating in Kurdistan. In other news, on July 15, the state-run North Oil Company signed a preliminary agreement with U.S. firm HKN to develop the Himreen oil field between Kirkuk and Salah ad-Din. The goal is to boost output from 25,000 to 60,000 bpd and capture 50 million cubic feet per day of associated gas for power generation. On July 17, Mosul’s rebuilt international airport was reopened in a ceremony attended by PM Sudani, who said it will become fully operational within two months, once a management company is selected. 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: PM Sudani Gets His Own Bloc in Parliament; A Third of Lawmakers Oppose Ratification of Treaty with Kuwait

On July 12, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani had a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During the call, Sudani congratulated Erdogan on progress towards a peace agreement between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, whose fighters began laying down their weapons at a ceremony held in Sulaymaniyah last week. Sudani and Erdogan discussed other aspects of bilateral relations, as well as the war in Gaza and Israeli attacks on Lebanon, according to a statement by Sudani’s office. 

On July 12, a group of lawmakers announced the formation of a new bloc in the Iraqi parliament. The bloc, called the Construction and Development Bloc (Kotlat al-E’mar wal Tanmiyah) includes 54 members of parliament under the leadership of Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani, members of the new group told reporters. The bloc carries the same name of the electoral coalition that was announced in May by a group of political parties led by Sudani’s Tayyar al-Furatain party to compete in the November parliamentary election. The new bloc includes at least seven independent lawmakers and seven members who have apparently defected from the State of Law bloc of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. In addition to his own party, Sudani’s electoral alliance reportedly comprises the Aqd al-Watani party of PMF commission chairman Falih al-Fayyadh, the Wataniyah party of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, and the Ibdaa Karbala party of Karbala governor Nasif al-Khatabi, the Bilad Sumer party of Labor Minister Ahmed al-Asadi, and Hulool al-Watani party of former Industry Minister Mohammed al-Daraji.

On July 13, a group of 110 members of parliament signed a letter addressed to the speaker of parliament expressing their opposition to the ratification of a controversial treaty with Kuwait regarding the maritime border in the Khor Abdullah channel. The group, which represents a third of Iraq’s 329-member legislature, insists in their letter that the government must carry out the existing orders of the Federal Supreme Court (FSC) regarding the treaty. The move appears designed to block recent efforts by the government to resubmit the treaty for ratification, after its nullification by the FSC in 2023 strained relations with Kuwait and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Last week, Prime Minister Sudani, President Abdullatif Rashid, and speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani called on parliament to take the necessary legislative steps to properly ratify the treaty in accordance with the requirements set by prior FSC decisions. In September 2023, the FSC had ruled that parliament’s ratification of the treaty was invalid because it lacked the constitutionally required two thirds majority. Sudani and Rashid also said that they would withdraw their motions that sought to repeal the 2023 FSC decision that nullified the treaty in favor of resolving the matter through the legislative pathways. ISHM could not obtain a copy of the letter to determine the names of the lawmakers who endorsed it.

On July 16, the Iraqi parliament conducted a second reading of a draft law intended to regulate the structure and functions of the Popular Mobilization Committee (PMC) that is in charge of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) paramilitaries. The draft under discussion, posted on parliament’s website, had gone through an initial reading in March. The bill replaced the draft law on PMF service and retirement, which the government had sent to parliament in February but ended up recalling after it caused deadlock between different factions within the Coordination Framework. The brief bill is meant to replace the original PMC Law No. 40 of 2016. It deals mostly with outlining the basic roles and functions of the PMC leadership and associated offices, as well as the qualifications required in senior appointments, without going into much detail. Notably, the bill provides for creating a separate military academy to train PMF officers. Wednesday’s discussion was boycotted by Sunni and Kurdish blocs, who walked out after the bill was hastily added to the session’s official agenda without prior notice. Copies of a report about the bill prepared by the parliamentary defense and security committee indicate that the Finance Ministry had raised concerns about the financial burden the bill would cause if passed. The report also mentions that a government advisory body opposed the creation of a new military academy and the expansion of the PMF bureaucracy. 

Sources cited in this section include: Iraqi PM’s office, INA, Rudaw, ISHM archive, al-Mada, Azzaman, Iraq’s parliament, Shafaq, al-Sumaria.

SECURITY & HUMANITARIAN: Most of Kurdistan Oil Production Suspended as Fields Face Unprecedented Drone Attacks

On July 13, Basra governor As’ad al-Idani said he dropped legal charges against local activist Ammar al-Hilfi after facing popular backlash from civil society as well as Hilfi’s own tribe. Last week, activist Ammar al-Hilfi said he was facing an arrest warrant after Idani filed libel charges against him after the activist criticized the governor’s handling of Basra’s water crisis on social media. Another Basra activist, Ala’ al-Bakhatiri, was arrested last week after he criticized government officials, including Oil Minister Hayan Abdulghani, over their response to the water shortage that’s been affecting the province. Bakhatiri was arrested without a proper warrant, according to local sources, and there are no indications that he’s been released yet. 

On July 13, a protester was killed and at least three others wounded after security forces opened fire on demonstrators protesting power outages in the town of Warti, part of the Rawanduz district of Erbil province. According to eyewitnesses, the protest began Sunday evening when dozens of Warti residents blocked a main road in protest of a widespread power outage in their area. Security forces attempted to disperse the demonstrators, but tensions escalated quickly, culminating in security forces opening fire into the crowd, resulting in the death of a protester who was reportedly in the chest. Eyewitnesses told Peregraf that three other protesters were injured. The incident sparked widespread outrage across social media, with calls for an urgent investigation and accountability for those involved. The incident came at a time when parts of the Kurdistan Region, especially villages and rural areas, are experiencing severe power shortages, with supply limited to just a few hours per day. The Interior Ministry of the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) said it has opened an investigation about the shooting. 

On July 14, Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said that two explosive drones of unknown origin targeted the Khormala oil field in the Makhmour district, to the southwest of Erbil. The attack, which took place around 20:30 local time, caused some material damage but there were no reports of casualties. Khormala, operated by the KAR Group, is part of the giant Kirkuk oil field structure and is the largest oil producing field in the Kurdistan region. Federal authorities are coordinating an investigation with their counterparts in the Kurdistan region, the Command added. Hours later on July 15, another explosive drone struck the Sarsang oil field in the Jumanki subdistrict of Duhok province, the KRG Natural Resources Ministry said. The attack caused a large fire at the field, forcing the operating company, HKN, to shut down production operations. There were no casualties as a result of the attack. Meanwhile, a fourth drone crashed in an open area in the Chemchemal district of Sulaymaniyah without causing damage or casualties, according to security sources. Chemchemal is close to the Khor-Mor gas field, which had been targeted by drone and rocket attacks on multiple occasions in recent years, most recently in February. More attacks followed throughout the week. On July 16, the Ain Sifni oil field in Duhok, operated by U.S. company Hunt Oil, was attacked by drones on two separate occasions, setting installations on fire. Also on July 16, three drones struck storage tanks and production facilities at the Tawke and Peshkhabir oil fields in the Zakho district of Duhok, forcing a suspension of production, according to security officials and Norwegian oil company DNO, which operates the fields. At least two additional drone attacks were reported on Thursday, one striking in the Shmamik subdistrict southwest of Erbil, while a second drone struck near the Tawke oil field in Zakho. The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) said on Wednesday that most of its members, including companies whose fields have not been attacked, such as Gulf Keystone Petroleum, “have announced suspension of production totaling over 200,000 barrels per day.” The region produced around 285,000 barrels per day prior to the attacks. The KRG strongly condemned the drone attacks, calling on the Iraqi government to “take urgent and necessary measures to prevent such attacks, find the perpetrators, and punish them.” For his part, Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani ordered “an immediate and extensive investigation” to determine those responsible for the attacks and hold them accountable. Sudani’s military spokesman called the attacks, which are unprecedented in their scale and impact on Kurdistan’s energy sector, “a direct threat to Iraq’s interests.” The U.S. embassy in Baghdad condemned the attacks on Kurdistan’s energy infrastructure, saying that Baghdad “must exercise its authority to prevent armed actors from launching these attacks against sites within its own territory.” The embassy further warned that such attacks ‘are unacceptable, undermine Iraq’s sovereignty, and hurt Iraq’s efforts to attract foreign investment.” This is the third consecutive week in which Kurdistan has faced drone strikes on civilian, energy, and military targets.

On July 17, a large fire erupted at a new shopping center in the city of al-Kut killing more than 60 people, Iraq’s Interior Ministry and medical sources said. Most of the victims died of suffocation, while rescuers and first responders recovered at least 14 charred bodies from what remains of the five-storey building. Initial assessment by authorities noted inadequate safety measures, including insufficient fire extinguishing systems and the absence of emergency exits at the building. The Iraqi government declared three days of mourning, while Prime Minister Sudani traveled to al-Kut and met with families of the victims. At an emergency cabinet meeting, Sudani decried negligence that leads to such tragedies as a “form of corruption and deliberate murder,” pledging to take punitive measures against those responsible for the fire.

Sources cited in this section include: Mawazin, ISHM archive, Peregraf, INA, al-Sumaria, Kurdistan24, Reuters, Rudaw, APIKUR, INA.

ECONOMY & CLIMATE: Baghdad and Erbil Announce New Deal on Oil, Revenue, and Salaries

On July 15, Iraq’s state-owned North Oil Company signed a preliminary agreement with U.S. energy company HKN to develop the Himreen oil field, located between Kirkuk and Salah ad-Din provinces. The Oil Ministry seeks to increase the field’s production to 60,000 barrels per day (bpd), up from current production of approximately 25,000 bpd, Oil Minister Hayan Abdulghani said at the signing ceremony. Iraq also wanted to capture up to 50 million cubic feet per day or associated natural gas to supply power plants with fuel, Abdulghani added. HKN’s position in Iraq is rather unusual. The company’s recent deal with the KRG to develop the Miran gas block in Kurdistan, which is estimated to hold 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, faces strong opposition from the Oil Ministry, which dismissed the deal as null and void. One of the company’s other fields in Kurdistan, Sarsang was attacked by explosive drones just hours before the Himreen deal was signed on Tuesday. The company’s vice president, Matthew Zeiss, had a meeting with Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani on Tuesday, where they discussed HKN’s growing business in Iraq and Baghdad’s interest in attracting more American companies to invest in its energy sector, a statement by Sudani’s office said.

On July 16, the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) said that it reached a “new understanding” with the federal government about securing the financial entitlements of the Kurdistan region, including the salaries of its public servants. This came a day after Bafel Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) had talks with Prime Minister Sudani in Baghdad about the salaries and intertwined disputes over the delivery of the Kurdistan region’s oil revenue and other income to the federal government. Talabani also had talks with the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faeq Zaidan. On Thursday, Prime Minister Sudani’s cabinet said it has approved the new revenue sharing deal. The new arrangement requires the KRG to deliver 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil to the federal government, while the latter would reimburse the KRG for the cost of oil production and transportation for that volume at a rate of $16 per barrel. The remaining 50,000 bpd from the KRG production (estimated at 280,000 bpd) would be allocated to domestic use with the amount’s revenue returning to the federal treasury after deducting the cost of production, transportation, and refining, which would be initially covered by the KRG. Any future increase in oil production would be allocated for export through the federal Oil Ministry. The KRG would also send IQD 120 billion to Baghdad as the estimated share of the federal treasury from non-oil revenue generated in Kurdistan during the month of May. In return, the federal government is to begin funding the salaries of Kurdistan public servants as soon as the Oil Ministry confirms receipt of oil at a rate of 230,000 bpd at its storage depots in Ceyhan. Joint teams would work to reconcile payments, assess the KRG’s non-oil revenue, determine actual domestic fuel consumption in Kurdistan, and finalize the domiciliation of public sector salaries in accordance with prior FSC decisions. 

On July 17, Mosul’s recently rebuilt international airport reopened in a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Sudani, the governor of Ninewa, and several cabinet ministers. Speaking to reporters, Sudani explained that the airport would be fully operational in two months after a specialized company is selected to run the facility. Reconstruction of the airport, which was destroyed during the war with ISIS, commenced in August 2022 and cost an estimated IQD 200 billion (approximately $150 million). New upgrades included extending the airport’s runway by 350 meters to be 3000-meters long and 45-meters wide in order to accommodate larger aircraft, a government statement said. The airport will have an annual capacity to handle 630,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of cargo. 

Sources cited in this section include: INA, ISHM archive, Iraqi PM’s office, KRG, PUKMedia.

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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