Humanitarian Crisis Warning for Mosul Offensive
By Simon Kent. Amnesty International, the world-wide human rights organization, has published a report warning of imminent humanitarian crisis as the offensive to liberate Mosul from the self declared Islamic State gathers momentum. The organization also warned the current humanitarian emergency, which has seen at least 3 million Iraqis displaced from their homes, is severely […]
Iraq's Environment Faces Grim Reckoning
By Wassim Bassem for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq has been involved in many wars, but soon it will have to turn its attention to yet another front or risk being overwhelmed by an environmental crisis. Two coinciding […]
Abadi Boosted as Oil Minister, other Portfolios Approved
By Simon Kent. Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi has received a huge boost to his embattled reform campaign as parliament approved his initial choice for new Minister of Oil, Jabar Ali al Luaibi. Luaibi was formerly the head of the South Oil Company, and his appointment comes after difficult negotiations with the IMF, that included […]
Iranian Gas Imports for Iraq in September
By Simon Kent. Iran is to start exporting gas to Iraq from the South Pars field after a year long delay, Bloomberg reports. The shipments will begin at 7 million cubic meters a day for power generation in Baghdad. Another export route is planned for 2017, which will serve Basra, totaling 70 million cubic meters a day […]
New Gas Processing Facility in Maysan
By Simon Kent. Iraq's Maysan province, which borders Iran, has opened a new gas processing facility to treat associated gas from the Fakka and Bazargan fields. A statement from Iraq's Ministry of Oil did not say how much gas was being processed, but the gas had previously been flared and will now be used for power […]
Peshmerga Capture Villages Near Mosul
By Simon Kent. Kurdish Peshmerga forces have captured several villages from the self declared Islamic State, near the city of Mosul, the group's last urban stronghold in Iraq. Around 5000 Kurdish fighters participated in the operation, which was backed by Coalition air strikes. IS responded by launching suicide vehicle attacks, but these were not successful. […]
Commando Raid Kills ISIS Oil Chief
By Simon Kent. US Special Forces, possibly in conjunction with Kurdish commandos, have been involved in a targeted raid near the Iraqi border town of Al Qaim, CNN reports. The target of the raid, intended for capture, was killed during a firefight, according to the Kurdish Security Council. The raiding party were attempting to capture Sami […]
Iran "Should Grab More Iraqi Business"
Iran Should Grab More Share of Iraq’s Foreign Trade: Official Iran’s share of neighboring Iraq’s annual foreign trade is totally inadequate, an Iranian official deplored, saying China and Turkey have overtaken Iran in exports to Iraq. Chairman of Iran-Iraq joint chamber of commerce, Yahya Al-e Eshaq, said Iraq’s market has a capacity of $190 billion […]
Norway’s Contributions to Stabilization reach $10.7m
The Kingdom of Norway has contributed an additional US$3 million to UNDP’s Funding Facility for Immediate Stabilization (FFIS), which finances fast-track initiatives in areas liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). With this contribution, Norway has channelled $10.7 million to UNDP's FFIS during 2016. Based on priorities identified by the Government […]
Water Supply to be Upgraded in Sulaymaniyah
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Governorate of Sulaimaniyah signed an agreement to rehabilitate the main water network for Sulaimaniyah City which provides safe drinking water for more than one million people. “The Governorate and people of Sulaimaniyah have generously welcomed and supported displaced and refugee families,” said UNDP Resident Representative and UN […]
ISIS Struggling After Massive Casualties
By Simon Kent. Outgoing US commander Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland has given a press conference on the state of the self declared Islamic State and the coming campaign to retake Mosul from group. At the conference, he noted that "the enemy is in retreat on all fronts.” The General noted that 30,000 airstrikes had hit […]
$2.7 Billion US Defense Loan Questioned in Parliament
By Omar Sattar for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. BAGHDAD — US Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones announced July 21 that the Iraqi government has started withdrawing the $2.7 billion loan secured on June 29. However, the Iraqi parliament had not been briefed on the deal, making […]