Three Dead in Explosion near Kuwaiti Border
By John Lee. Three Iraqi civilians were reportedly killed on Wednesday when a booby-trapped truck exploded near the Kuwaiti border in Iraq. The Kuwaiti news agency KUNA quoted a local Iraqi official as saying that the explosion happened at a garage near the main road about 12 km (7.5 miles) north of the Safwan border […]
Militia Attacks Destroy Villages, Displace Thousands
Militias, volunteer fighters, and Iraqi security forces engaged in deliberate destruction of civilian property after these forces, following US and Iraqi air strikes, forced the retreat of Islamic State fighters (also known as IS, ISIS, ISIL) from the town of Amerli and surrounding areas in early September 2014, Human Rights Watch said in a report […]
Iran Sends Additional Arms to Iraq
By Patrick Schmidt. Iran already holds a growing position of influence in Iraq and this position has grown once again. The Iranian government has dispatched a number of advanced missile and rocket systems to Iraq to aid the in the fight against the Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL). The systems seem to be Fajr-5 rockets […]
IS Again Deploys Chemical Weapons
By Patrick Schmidt. Kurdish security officials report that the Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL) has once again used chemical weapons against its forces. The IS used chlorine gas twice against the Peshmerga outside of the city of Tikrit. The militants have used the gas before against the Peshmerga. The last reported gas attacks by the […]
Weekly Security Update: 10 - 16 March 2015
National Overview Ground operations against the militant stronghold of Tikrit have reached a temporary halt outside the city’s central districts as reinforcements arrive in preparation for further heavy fighting. Following last week’s Iraqi update, militia-backed reserves have pressed into the city from the northern, western and southern axes, capturing much of the outlying suburb of […]
Talks on Developing Joint Oil Fields
By John Lee. Iran’s PressTV said on Saturday that Iraq has started a new round of talks with Iran and Kuwait over the development of oil wells that are shared between the three countries. Oil Minister Dr. Adel Abdul Mahdi [Adel Abdel Mehdi] (pictured) said that this is consistent with Iraq’s policy of expanding its crude […]
Jordan, Iraq discuss Cross-Border Transport
By John Lee. Representatives of Jordan and Iraq met on Saturday to discuss procedures to facilitate the transport of goods by truck through the Al Karamah / Traibil [Turaybeel, Tirbil, Tarbiel, Trebil] border post (pictured). The Secretary-General of Jordan's Interior Ministry, Governor Samir Mubaidin, and the Iraqi Director General of Border Crossings, Maj. Gen. Essam […]
Japan Continues to Assist KRG
Minister Falah Mustafa, Head of KRG Department of Foreign Relations today received Mr. Kentaro Sonoura, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and his accompanying delegation to discuss latest developments and bilateral ties. Minister Mustafa briefed the Vice-Minister on the military, humanitarian, and economic challenges facing the Kurdistan Region as well as the political process […]
Iraq's Illegal Employment Agencies
By Omar al-Jaffal for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Zaher Moussa, a producer at the Iraqi Beladi TV channel in Baghdad, has tried to contact employment agencies placing Asian workers in Iraq to interview them about the way they bring foreign […]
IBBC-BUIC Roundtable: Academic Engagement with Iraq
The Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC), jointly with the British Universities Iraq Consortium (BUIC), held a daylong event sponsored by the British Council in London on different aspects of academic partnerships between Iraq and UK. Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, IBBC Executive Chairman, HE Prof Al- Mosawi, Cultural Attache of the Iraqi Embassy, Amir Ramzan, Director […]
Court Dismisses $4.5bn Claim Against Zain
By John Lee. An Iraqi court has reportedly rejected a $4.5-billion (5.4 trillion Iraqi dinar) lawsuit against Zain. The case centers around Zain's $1.2-billion acquisition of Iraqna from Egypt's Orascom Telecom in December 2007, after the Egyptian company dropped out of the running for a long-term mobile licence. According to Reuters, the Kuwaiti firm then […]
Attock Cement gets Green Light
By John Lee. Pakistan's Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has approved a proposal to allow Attock Cement Pakistan Limited (ACPL) to transfer $24 million (29 trillion Iraqi dinars) to Iraq for the construction of a cement grinding unit in Basra. The investment will starting this month, with the company intending to hire 50 percent of its labour […]