Key Takeaways:

• POLITICS: Six Election Winners Stripped of Their Seats; Judiciary Denies Issuing Directive Restricting Free Speech – On December 7, Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said it disqualified six candidates who had won seats in the November elections. The six include former Ninewa governor Najm al-Jubouri, who was stripped of his seat by the electoral judicial committee because of alleged ties to the Ba’ath Party—charges from which he was cleared by the same judges in August. On Monday, IHEC said it has sent the final election results to the Federal Supreme Court for ratification. On December 9, news outlets circulated a document purportedly issued by the office of the president of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), instructing the public prosecutor’s office to press charges against “anyone who calls for the overthrow of the political system or questions its legitimacy through the media.” The document drew backlash from journalists, politicians, and rights defenders, who questioned its legality and called it an overreach reflecting the politicization of the judiciary. On Thursday, the judiciary sought to distance itself from the document and reprimanded the office director of the SJC president for sending it “without the approval” of SJC president Faeq Zaidan. In other developments, on December 9, a new edition of Iraq’s official gazette formally removed Lebanese Hezbollah and the Houthis from an earlier published list of designated terrorist groups covered by anti-terror financing measures in Iraq. A government committee tasked with countering the financing of terrorism said their earlier inclusion was the result of an editing error. more…
• SECURITY & HUMANITARIAN: Iraq to Repatriate Remaining Al-Hol Residents in Six Months – On December 11, Iraq’s National Security Adviser, Qasim al-Araji, said Baghdad authorities “are determined” to repatriate all Iraqi nationals who remain at al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria within the next six months. This reflects an adjustment to earlier plans, which called for completing the returns by the end of this year. The delay appears linked in part to limited capacity to house and rehabilitate returnees inside Iraq. In October, Iraqi authorities halted the return of hundreds of Iraqi nationals from al-Hol due to overcrowding at al-Jedaa camp in Ninewa, where new returnees undergo vetting and rehabilitation before being allowed to return to their home districts. About 4,000 Iraqi citizens currently remain at al-Hol. In other developments, on December 6, security sources in Sulaymaniyah said clashes erupted between Peshmerga forces and elements of the Kurdistan Commando Forces in the Chemchemal district. The firefight left three Peshmerga fighters dead or wounded, the sources added without offering details. On December 11, the Iraqi military deployed additional forces to Maysan province ahead of a planned operation to restore order in seven districts and subdistricts that have seen violent tribal conflicts in recent months. The operation will focus on the district of al-Kahla, where an Iraqi army soldier was killed and another wounded in a shooting at a security checkpoint less than two weeks ago. Between December 8–11, the explosions of a grenade and a remnant of war in Basra and Dhi-Qar killed three Iraqis and wounded five. more…
• ECONOMY & CLIMATE: Customs Revenue Rises; Chevron Eyes Lukoil’s Stake at WQ-2; Deadly Flash Floods Hit Iraq; Starlink Seeks Internet License – On December 7, Iraq’s Customs Commission said it generated nearly IQD 2.4 trillion in revenue so far in 2025. The figure reflects growth of approximately 20% from 2024, when revenue stood at an estimated IQD 2 trillion. Officials attributed the improvement to the ASYCUDA system, which Iraq introduced in January. On December 9, a senior delegation from Chevron held talks with Prime Minister Sudani and Oil Minister Hayan Abdulghani about developing the Nasiriyah oil field and cooperating on the West Qurna-2 field, where operator Lukoil declared force majeure last month after being hit with new U.S. sanctions. On December 9, flash floods struck several areas of the Kurdistan region and Iraq’s eastern provinces as heavy rains inundated the country. The floods were heaviest in Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk, where at least three people were killed and a dozen others injured. The flooding also damaged an estimated 500 homes and more than 100 businesses, while shutting down roads and washing away bridges and power lines. Flash floods were also reported in Diyala and Maysan. The rains boosted reserves at various dams by more than 700 million cubic meters, according to estimates by the Water Resources Ministry. On December 11, representatives of Elon Musk’s Starlink met in Baghdad with PM Sudani to discuss obtaining a license to provide satellite-based internet services in Iraq. 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: Six Election Winners Stripped of Their Seats; Judiciary Denies Issuing Directive Restricting Free Speech

On December 7, Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said it made decisions to disqualify six candidates who had won seats in the November elections. The disqualified winners include former Ninewa governor Najm al-Jubouri, who was stripped of his seat by the electoral judicial committee because of alleged ties to the Ba’ath Party. Jubouri, who won a seat in Ninewa, was cleared of these charges by the same judges in August and allowed to compete in the election after an earlier decision by IHEC to disqualify him. On Monday, IHEC said it has sent the final election results to the Federal Supreme Court for ratification after the electoral judicial committee completed the process of looking into all appeals submitted by various candidates and parties who are contesting the results of the November vote. 

On December 9, Iraq’s Justice Ministry published a new edition of the official gazette that formally removed Lebanese Hezbollah and Ansar Allah (the Houthis) from a list of designated terrorist groups covered by anti-terror financing measures in Iraq. The move comes days after a government committee tasked with countering the financing of terrorism said it retracted a bulletin published in the official gazette that listed the two groups among designated terrorist groups to be targeted by asset freezing measures. The committee said the inclusion of these two groups, which triggered angry reactions and accusations of treason from Iran-backed Iraqi militias, was the result of an editing error. Prime Minister Sudani had ordered an investigation into this “error,” which a government statement said does not reflect Iraq’s real position.

On December 9, news reports circulated a document with a directive issued by the office of the president of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) instructing the public prosecutor’s office to prosecute “anyone who calls for the overthrow of the political system or questions its legitimacy through the media.” The document, dated November 26, cites correspondences about the matter involving the National Security Adviser and the Committee of Judicial Oversight. News of the document was met with backlash from journalists, politicians, and rights defenders who questioned the legality of the directive and called it an overreach reflecting the politicization of the judiciary. On Thursday, the Committee of Judicial Oversight sought to distance itself from the document and reprimanded the office director of the SJC president for sending a document “without the approval” of SJC president Faeq Zaidan. The Committee stressed that the directive goes against the position of the SJC president in upholding freedom of speech. 

Sources cited in this section include: INA, Azzaman, ISHM archive, al-Sumaria, al-Ghad, Iraq’s Justice Ministry, Shafaq, Mawazin, al-Aalem al-Jadeed.

SECURITY & HUMANITARIAN: Iraq to Repatriate Remaining Al-Hol Residents in Six Months

On December 6, security sources in Sulaymaniyah province said that clashes erupted between Peshmerga forces and elements of the Kurdistan Commando Forces at the Bani Maqan checkpoint in the Chemchemal district. The firefight left three Peshmerga fighters dead or wounded, the sources added without offering information about what may have caused the clashes.  

On December 8, security sources in Basra said that an explosive remnant of war detonated in al-Beeban area of the Shatt al-Arab district, east of Basra City. The explosion killed a young man and wounded another, the sources added. 

On December 11, police sources in Dhi-Qar province said that two children were killed and four other people from the same family were injured when a hand grenade exploded inside their home in the Qalat Sikar district, north of Nasiriyah. The police have opened an investigation to determine the circumstances of the explosion. In Baghdad, security sources said that unidentified individuals traveling by motorcycle used a hand grenade to attack a civilian home in the northwest Baghdad neighborhood of al-Shula. The attack damaged three vehicles parked near the targeted building but there were no reports of casualties. 

On December 11, Iraq’s National Security Adviser, Qasim al-Araji, said the Baghdad authorities “are determined” to repatriate all of the Iraqi nationals who remain at al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria within the next six months. This reflects an adjustment to Iraq’s earlier plans, which had called for the return of all Iraqis who are still in the camp by the end of this year. The delay appears to be at least in part linked to limited capacity to house and rehabilitate returnees inside Iraq. In October, Iraqi authorities halted the return of hundreds of Iraqi nationals from al-Hol due to overcrowding at al-Jedaa camp in Ninewa, where new returnees undergo vetting and rehabilitation before they can return to their home districts. Last month, Syrian Kurdish officials overseeing the camp put the number of Iraqis at al-Hol at 4,868. Iraq has since brought home a group of 858 Iraqis from al-Hol, suggesting that only 4,010 Iraqi citizens currently remain at the camp. 

On December 11, the Iraqi military deployed additional forces to Maysan province ahead of a planned operation aimed at restoring order in seven districts and subdistricts that have been the scene of violent tribal conflicts in recent months, security sources said. The reinforcements reportedly include a detachment of four military helicopters and elements from the army’s 9th armored division. According to the sources, the plan will focus on the district of al-Kahla, where an Iraqi army soldier was killed and another soldier was wounded in a shooting at a security checkpoint less than two weeks ago. 

Sources cited in this section include: al-Sumaria, PUKMedia, Shafaq, Mawazin, Baghdad Today, al-Mirbad, ISHM archive, Rudaw, The New Humanitarian.

ECONOMY & CLIMATE: Customs Revenue Rises; Chevron Eyes Lukoil’s Stake at WQ-2; Deadly Flash Floods Hit Iraq; Starlink Seeks Internet License

On December 7, Iraq’s Customs Commission said that it generated nearly IQD 2.4 trillion in revenue so far in 2025. The figure reflects growth of approximately 20% from 2024, when revenue stood at an estimated IQD 2 trillion. According to earlier statements by Iraqi customs officials, customs revenue has been seeing steady growth in recent years, from IQD 807 billion in 2022 to IQD 1.33 trillion in 2023, before approaching IQD 2 trillion in 2024. The head of the Customs Commission, Qasim Thamir attributed the improvement to the ASYCUDA system, which Iraq began using earlier this year. 

On December 8, Iraqi oil officials said that production at the West Qurna-2 oilfield was restored after a brief pause earlier that day that was caused by a leak in the crude oil transport pipeline linking the field to the export ports. Operations at the field, which produces approximately 480,000 barrels per day (bpd), have been destabilized by recent U.S. sanctions on the operator, Russian oil company Lukoil, that forced it to declare force majeure.

On December 9, a senior delegation from U.S. energy company Chevron visited Baghdad for talks with Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani and Oil Minister Hayan Abdulghani, a statement by Sudani’s office said. The two sides continued their ongoing negotiations concerning the development of the Nasiriyah oil field in Dhi-Qar province, which began several years ago. They also discussed the possibility of cooperation in developing the West Qurna-2 oil field, where the operator, Russian oil company Lukoil, declared force majeure last month after it was hit with new U.S. sanctions. News reports in November indicated that ExxonMobil, Chevron, and private equity firm Carlyle had expressed interest in taking over some of Lukoil’s international assets. Sudani emphasized that Baghdad’s vision for working with international energy companies focuses on technology transfers, local workforce development, and social benefits for host communities, the statement added, without providing details about the talks outcome. In August, Iraq’s Oil Ministry signed an agreement in principle with Chevron to explore for oil in four blocks in Dhi-Qar province, among other locations. 

On December 9, local oil services companies working for international oil companies in southern Iraq protested a move by the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) that forces them to withdraw transfers from their foreign employers in the local currency instead of the U.S. dollar. The companies complained that the move, which was reportedly required by the Central Bank, was causing them to incur large losses because of the difference between the official exchange rate ($1 = IQD 1,310) and that on the open market ($1 = IQD 1,430).

On December 9, flash floods were reported in several areas of the Kurdistan region and Kirkuk province as heavy rains inundated swaths of north and central Iraq. The flash floods were heaviest in Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk, where at least three people were killed and a dozen people were injured. At least one person remains missing in the town of Chemchemal, which received nearly seven inches of rain. The flooding also damaged an estimated 500 homes and more than 100 businesses, and shut down roads and washed away bridges and powerlines. Throughout the week, flash floods were also reported in eastern provinces, including Diyala and the northeastern parts of Maysan. On the positive side, the heavy rains have boosted reserves at various dams by more than 700 million cubic meters, according to estimates by the Water Resources Ministry. 

On December 11, representatives of Elon Musk’s Starlink met in Baghdad with Prime Minister Sudani to discuss obtaining a license to provide satellite-based internet services in Iraq, a statement by the prime minister’s office said. 

On December 11, Norwegian oil company DNO said it will resume drilling operations at the Tawke field it operates in the Kurdistan region after a pause that lasted more than two and a half years. In a press release, the company said it expects to raise production at Tawke, a key producer in Kurdistan, from 80,000 bpd to 100,000 bpd by drilling eight new wells during 2026.

Sources cited in this section include: INA, ISHM archive, al-Sumaria, Iraqi PM’s office, Shafaq, Rudaw, Kurdistan24, Mawazin, DNO.

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.

Subscribe to our weekly ISHM and have the latest developments in Iraq sent straight to your inbox every Thursday and follow EPIC on Twitter to receive updates throughout the week.