By Patrick Schmidt. After a meeting between Iraqi and Iranian officials, an agreement has been reached to connect the two countries’ rail systems. The project calls for Iraq to lay 32 kilometers of track to the city of Basra from the Iranian border. Iranian officials claim that the link would allow Iraqis access to Central […]
By Patrick Schmidt. After more than twenty-five years without an embassy in Iraq, the Saudi Foreign Ministry has announced that it will reopen its embassy in Baghdad. Saudi officials will travel to the country this week to begin preparations for the construction of the new facility. Saudi Arabia also plans to open a consulate in […]
By John Lee. Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi received the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott at his office on Sunday, and called on Australia to increase its militarty support to Iraq. The Australian PM expressed his readiness to support to Iraq in "military and training fields", according to a press releasee from the Iraqi PM's office, […]
From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. In northern Iraq, Kurdish Peshmerga forces are also trying to re-take territory occupied by ISIL. One of the key battles is in the village of Sultan Abdullah. Peshmerga forces were reportedly in full […]
Advertising Feature Rabee Securities Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) market report (week ending: 1st January 2015). Note: ISX will be closed during December 30, 2014 - January 6, 2015 due to the end-of-year closing operations. The next session will be held on Wednesday, January 7, 2015. Please click here to download a table of listed companies […]
By Mustafa al Kadhimi for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Iraq Business News. On Dec. 23, Iraq's Cabinet approved and submitted the 2015 federal budget to parliament. This development occurred following months of study to review and reduce the initial budget’s large […]
By John Lee. As long term observers of events in Iraq, the team at Iraq Business News thought we might have seen just about every unexpected story from a nation that continues to surprise. We'd heard of the popularity of the Japanese comic character Hello Kitty in Iraq or the trend among some young Iraqis for playing […]
By John Lee. Dublin registered Dragon Oil has announced a second oil discovery at the Block 9 exploration well, 'Faihaa-1'. This is good news for the consortium who have a 30% stake in the well along with the operator, Kuwait Energy who have a 70% stake in the block, located in the northern part of Basra […]
By John Lee. Members of the so called "Islamic State" have targeted up to 170 men near Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk, AFP reports. The men have been kidnapped in response to the alleged burning of an ISIL flag in two villages outside the city. While ISIL have been known to severely punish dissenters, other reports have […]
By Patrick Schmidt. According to figures from the Iraqi government, at least 15,000 individuals have been killed since the start of the year. Many of those individuals died following the rise of the Islamic State (IS) in June. This year’s figure is a sharp increase from 2013, when only 6,522 people were killed by violence […]
By John Lee. Iraq and Russia are leading the global surge in oil exports despite a highly competitive market. This has maintained low prices not seen since 2009, with a February settlement for Brent Crude at $56.42 a barrel. Bloomberg reported record export data of 10.6 million barrels a day from Russia and 2.9 million bpd […]
By John Lee. The Christmas and the New Year period brought no respite for fighters of the so called "Islamic State" in Iraq and Syria, with some 100 strikes targeting the group in their key command and control sites including Raqqa in Syria, and Mosul and Fallujah in Iraq. US Defence officials also reported other […]
