Key Takeaways:

• POLITICS: KRG Signals Commitment to Recent Oil and Revenue Deal with Baghdad – On July 30, the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) cabinet announced that a portion of its oil production will soon be handed over to Iraq’s Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) for export through the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The announcement followed a cabinet meeting to discuss implementation of the July 16 agreement with the federal government on oil exports and public sector salaries. The statement did not specify the volume or timing of the deliveries, but a federal Oil Ministry delegation is expected to visit Kurdistan soon to assess production levels and set a delivery date, according to industry sources. The KRG also urged Baghdad to release funds for June and July salaries. Both sides have taken goodwill steps that suggest a positive outlook for the deal. Last week, after months of delay, Iraq’s Finance Ministry released funds for May salaries, while the KRG transferred IQD 120 billion (~$91 million) to the federal government as its share of May’s non-oil revenues—a significant increase over previous contributions. In other developments, on July 27, the Baghdad provincial council elected Atwan al-Atwani as the new governor, following its vote the previous week to dismiss Abdulmuttalib al-Alawi for exceeding the legal retirement age. Both Atwani and Alawi belong to the State of Law bloc. On July 28, Iraq’s national security adviser, Qasim al-Araji, said from Erbil that federal and KRG authorities were close to identifying the groups behind recent drone attacks on oil fields in the Kurdistan region. more…
• SECURITY & HUMANITARIAN: Kataib Hezbollah Clashes with Police in Baghdad; More Drones Target Kurdistan Region – On July 27, intense clashes broke out between Kataib Hezbollah (KH) militiamen and Iraqi police in Baghdad’s Dora district, leaving at least two dead and 12 wounded. The violence stemmed from a dispute over the leadership of the Karkh Agriculture Directorate, a post seen as strategic for its control over farmland near the capital. The incident began when the recently dismissed director—a KH affiliate—returned to the office with around 20 KH fighters to forcibly remove his successor, who is reportedly backed by a rival militia, Kataib al-Imam Ali. The militiamen opened fire on police responding to the attack. Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said 14 gunmen, identified as members of PMF brigades 45 and 46 (KH), were arrested. The two militias have reportedly been vying for control over lucrative farmland through appointments to the directorate. At an emergency security meeting, PM Sudani instructed security chiefs “not to be lenient in upholding the law and protecting state institutions,” emphasizing that “no one is above the law.” He also ordered an investigation into reports of illegal land seizures by the directorate. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad condemned the violence and urged the Iraqi government to “bring these perpetrators and their leaders to justice without delay.” Between July 28–30, four explosive and surveillance drones crashed into buildings and open areas in and around Erbil. There were no casualties, and no group has claimed responsibility. In other news, on July 31, Iraqi authorities began repatriating 812 Iraqi nationals from the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, according to camp officials. more…
• ECONOMY & CLIMATE: Iraq’s First Major Solar Project to Come Online This Year; Turkey Pushes for Maximizing Oil Pipeline Utilization – On July 24, Iraq’s Electricity Minister said that the first phase of a solar power project in Basra will add 250 megawatts to the national grid by the end of the year. The “Shams al-Basra” (Basra Sun) project will ultimately generate 1,000 megawatts. It is part of a broader energy deal with TotalEnergies, the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP), which also includes seawater processing, gas capture, and oil field development. On July 28, Turkey’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Ankara wants a revised pipeline agreement with Iraq that ensures full utilization of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. The current agreement, signed in 1973 and extended in 2010, expires in July 2026. Bayraktar said the existing deal is inadequate from legal and commercial standpoints and that Turkey’s proposal—sent to Baghdad last week—seeks to avoid legal disputes and includes the possibility of extending the pipeline to Iraq’s prolific southern oil fields around Basra. Bayraktar noted that the pipeline “has a capacity of almost 1.5 million barrels per day. There’s no flow at the moment. Even when it did flow, it was never at full capacity.” The Turkish minister said that the deadline to renew the pipeline agreement was July 2026. In other developments, on July 25, Iraq’s Oil Ministry reported that crude oil exports in June averaged 3.296 million bpd—an increase of about 18,000 bpd from May. On July 27, Iraq’s Deputy Agriculture Minister said wheat and rice production declined significantly this year due to below-average rainfall. 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: KRG Signals Commitment to Recent Oil and Revenue Deal with Baghdad

On July 27, the Baghdad provincial council voted to elect Atwan al-Atwani as the next governor of Baghdad. The election of Atwani comes a week after the council voted for the second time this month to sack former governor Abdulmuttalib al-Alawi for exceeding the legal retirement age. Both Atwani and Alawi belong to the State of Law bloc of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. On Tuesday, President Abdullatif Rashid issued a presidential decree confirming Atwani’s appointment.

On July 28, Iraq’s national security adviser, Qasim al-Araji, announced from Erbil that authorities were close to identifying the groups behind the recent drone attacks that damaged several oil fields in the Kurdistan region. Araji, who was dispatched by Prime Minister Sudani, was in Erbil to co-chair a meeting of a joint investigation committee between the federal government and the Kurdistan regional government (KRG). This committee, according to Araji, will compile information about the attacks from both governments and analyze them to determine what happened. Speaking at a joint press conference with KRG Interior Minister Reber Ahmed, Araji condemned the attacks as “acts of sabotage that directly target the national economy and harm Iraq’s reputation.” Araji stressed that Sudani has “great determination” to find the culprits and hold them accountable.   

On July 30, the KRG cabinet announced that its oil production that is allocated for export will be soon handed over to Iraq’s Oil Marketing (SOMO) for export through the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The announcement follows a cabinet meeting to discuss the implementation of the recent agreement with the federal government on oil exports and Kurdistan’s public sector salaries. The statement did not specify the volume of oil that will be delivered to SOMO, or the date on which the oil will actually be delivered. But a delegation from the federal Oil Ministry is expected in Kurdistan soon to assess the state of the region’s oil production and set a delivery date, industry sources told Rudaw. In its statement, the KRG also called on the federal government to release the necessary funds for the salaries of June and July. Both sides have so far made gestures of good will that appear to give a positive outlook for this latest agreement. Last week, Iraq’s Finance Ministry released funds to cover the May salaries for Kurdistan Region public employees, in line with the agreement. Meanwhile, the KRG sent the federal government IQD 120 billion (~$91 million) as its share of the region’s non-oil revenues for May—a significant increase over previous contributions.

Sources cited in this section include: al-Sumaria, ISHM archive, INA, Rudaw.

SECURITY & HUMANITARIAN: Kataib Hezbollah Clashes with Police in Baghdad; More Drones Target Kurdistan Region

On July 27, fierce clashes erupted between a group of Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fighters and Iraqi police and federal police forces in al-Dora district of southeast Baghdad. The clashes, which lasted about half an hour, left at least two people killed, including a civilian passerby, and 12 wounded. The incident was sparked by a dispute over the director’s position at the Karkh Agriculture Directorate. The fighting began when the recently dismissed director, Ayad Kadhim, accompanied by a group of 20 PMF fighters stormed the Directorate’s building in an attempt to forcibly overthrow Kadhim’s recently appointed replacement, Osama Hassan Salumi. Kadhim is reportedly backed by Kataib Hezbollah, while his replacement is reportedly backed by another militia, Kataib al-Imam Ali. The militiamen then opened fire on police forces who responded to the attack. Troops from Iraq’s counter-terrorism service were deployed to the area as part of the security response. Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said security forces arrested 14 of the gunmen, who were identified as members of the PMF 45th and 46th brigades (Kataib Hezbollah). The Interior Ministry also said that the former director has been arrested over his role in instigating the violence. At stake are said to be rich farmlands on the outskirts of Baghdad that the two militias have been allegedly maneuvering to control through pushing the appointment of their respective allies to the management of the agriculture directorate. Prime Minister Sudani ordered an investigation to verify whether any lands were illegally commandeered and to take legal action against those responsible. In a statement, Kataib Hezbollah struggled to distance itself from the incident and shift blame to government forces. The group claimed that it had nothing to do with the fighting, saying that government forces initiated the violence by attacking relatives of Kadhim who happen to be PMF fighters and were at the site to support their relative after he was unfairly removed from office. At an emergency security meeting, Sudani told his security chiefs that “It is imperative not to be lenient in upholding the law and protecting state institutions,” stressing that “no one has the right to supplant the state or its authorities, and no one is above the law.” For its part, the U.S. embassy in Baghdad condemned Kataib Hezbollah for provoking the violence, calling on the Baghdad government to “take measures to bring these perpetrators and their leaders to justice without delay.” The PMF issued a statement addressing the situation, albeit without naming the specific brigades involved or even the incident itself, saying that “will not tolerate any individual who violates orders or breaches established security protocols.”  

On July 27, Iraq’s Interior Ministry decided to provide additional personnel and equipment to the civil defense departments in each of Iraq’s provinces. The reinforcements include boosting staffing levels at each department by 150 new personnel, as well as new fire trucks and related equipment. The decision comes less than two weeks after a deadly fire engulfed a shopping center in the city of al-Kut, killing more than 60 people. The tragedy, which created public outcry, highlighted lax enforcement of safety standards at public and commercial establishments, and deficiencies in emergency responses.  

On July 28, three drones crashed in separate early morning incidents in Erbil and Kirkuk provinces, local and security sources reported. The first drone struck a coffee shop in the Khabat district of Erbil. The physical impact poked a hole in the building’s wall but there was no explosion, images from the scene show. A second drone, which security sources identified as a surveillance vehicle, crashed in a farm in the village of Korasor in Erbil. The third drone crashed in a farm in the Hawija district of Kirkuk, local security sources said. None of the incidents resulted in casualties, and authorities are investigating the source of the unmanned aerial vehicles. Two days later, on July 30, an explosive drone crashed without exploding outside a village in the Makhmour district, southwest of Erbil, the Kurdistan region’s counter-terrorism service said. The drone incidents, for which no group has claimed responsibility, come two weeks after a series of attacks by explosive drones targeted several oil fields in the Kurdistan region.

On July 31, Iraqi authorities began the process of repatriating 812 Iraqi nationals comprising 233 households from al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, the camp’s management said. Repatriated families, which have perceived ties to ISIS, are first taken to al-Amal Center (also known as al-Jedaa camp) in Ninewa to undergo vetting and rehabilitation before they can return to their home districts. According to the camp managers, this is the 28th group of al-Hol residents to return to Iraq as part of a program to repatriate all Iraqi nationals from the camp. Earlier this month, Iraqi officials said that a total of approximately 16,000 Iraqis had been returned from al-Hol, with plans to repatriate all Iraqis who are still in the camp by the end of the year. The Deputy Minister of Migration and the Displaced said this week that returns were proceeding smoothly and at a good pace, adding that there have been no reports of security violations linked to those who had been returned to their home districts. 

On July 31, security sources in Ninewa province said that a legacy improvised explosive device (IED) leftover from the war with ISIS detonated on Mount Sinjar, west of Mosul. The explosion wounded one civilian, the sources added. 

Sources cited in this section include: al-Sumaria, Shafaq, INA, al-Aalem al-Jadeed, Iraqi PM’s office, Ultra Iraq, US Embassy, ISHM archive, Rudaw, Kurdistan24, Iraq Observer, Azzaman, Baghdad Today.

ECONOMY & CLIMATE: Iraq’s First Major Solar Project to Come Online This Year; Turkey Pushes for Maximizing Oil Pipeline Utilization

On July 24, Iraq’s Minister of Electricity, Ziyad Ali Fadhil, said that the first phase of a solar power project in Basra will add 250 megawatts of power to the national grid before the end of this year. The project, named Shams al-Basra (Basra Sun) is designed to ultimately produce up to 1,000 megawatts, the minister added. The solar project is part of a major energy deal with TotalEnergies known as the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP), which involves three other projects for seawater processing, gas harnessing, and oil field developments. 

On July 25, Iraq’s Oil Ministry said that crude oil exports during June totaled more than 98.88 million barrels, for an average of 3.296 million barrels per day (bpd). The June exports are about 18,000 bpd above the levels achieved in May. In its statement, the Ministry of Oil said the exports generated $6.698 billion in revenue, about $337 million higher than May. Nearly all of the oil produced came from fields in southern and central Iraq and was exported through the ports of Basra, while small amounts averaging slightly more than 7,200 bpd were exported by trucks to Jordan. Exports by pipeline from the northern fields in Kirkuk, as well as fields under the control of the Kurdistan regional government, remained suspended. 

On July 27, Iraq’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture said that wheat and rice production saw a significant decline this year due to lower than usual rainfall. According to Deputy Minister Mahdi al-Jubouri, total wheat production this year reached approximately 5.120 million tons compared to more than 6 millions tons harvested last year. Meanwhile, production of the more water-intensive rice suffered a much greater decline. This year Iraq allowed only 200 dunams to be used for rice cultivation, with the harvest allocated exclusively to universities and government labs. In contrast, in 2024 Iraqi farmers grew rice on 200,000 dunams, yielding nearly 150,000 tons, according to Jubouri. 

On July 28, Turkey’s Energy Minister, Alparslan Bayraktar revealed that Ankara’s vision for renewing its oil pipeline agreement with Iraq requires “a mechanism to ensure full use of this pipeline.” Last week, Ankara said the agreement, originally signed in 1973 and extended in 2010, will expire in July 2026. Ankara sent Baghdad a new draft agreement that goes beyond the expiring agreement to include cooperation on other energy initiatives, according to Iraqi and Turkish officials. Ankara views the expiring agreement in its current form to be inadequate from a legal and commercial standpoint, according to Bayraktar. He told reports that his government’s proposal seeks to avoid legal disputes and includes the possibility of extending the pipeline to Iraq’s prolific southern oil fields around Basra, noting that the pipeline “has a capacity of almost 1.5 million barrels per day. There’s no flow at the moment. Even when it did flow, it was never at full capacity.” The Turkish minister said that the deadline to renew the pipeline agreement was July 2026. The pipeline, which has been inactive since March 2023, has long operated well below its full capacity, with export volumes rarely exceeding 500,000 bpd. 

Sources cited in this section include: INA, al-Arabiya, ISHM archive, Rudaw, Reuters, al-Sumaria. 

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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