By John Lee. The Netherlands has resumed its training mission in Iraq, following a brief suspension due to security concerns resulting from US-Iranian tensions in the region. The Dutch Ministry of Defence announced that, after a re-assessment of the situation, its courses can be re-started. A number of Dutch people are training Iraqi commandos in […]
By Adnan Abu Zeed for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraqi factions a wild card in US-Iran blame game It's hard to tell what's really on the minds of Iranian and US officials in the flurry of words they've […]
By Padraig O'Hannelly. Last week, the US Embassy in Baghdad ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. Government employees from Iraq, as tension mounts between the Trump administration and neighbouring Iran. In the meantime, several other organisations have taken similar moves. While this has made headlines, has there been any real change on the ground? Iraq […]
By John Lee. Oil Minister Thamer al-Ghadban has criticised ExxonMobil's decision to temporarily evacuate staff from the West Qurna oil field as “unacceptable and unjustified”. In a statement on Sunday, he said the move was "political", and pointed out that other international oil companies are continuing to work freely. According to CNN, the company evacuated […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Minister for Electricity has warned of the dangers of politicising the problems in the country's electicity sector. Luay al-Khateeb told AFP: "Electricity is a national security issue ... In the end, any political, economic or security crisis in Iraq will affect the whole region -- and the global economy will be […]
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, inaugurated its new office In Sulaymaniya [Slemani] under the patronage of the First Lady of Iraq - Ms. Serbagh Saleh; and with the participation of the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Ms. Marta Ruedas; FAO Representative a.i. for Iraq Mr. René Verduijn; the […]
By John Lee. The U.S. Senate has confirmed the nomination of Ambassador Matthew Tueller to be the Ambassador to Iraq. Tueller has most recently served as U.S. Ambassador to Yemen. A native of Utah, Utah, his other overseas assignments have included Ambassador to Kuwait, Deputy Chief of Mission at Embassy Cairo; Political Minister Counselor at Embassy Baghdad; Deputy […]
From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. An apparent rocket attack has hit the high-security Green Zone. The area houses key government buildings and the United States embassy. Iraq's state-run news agency says a Katyusha rocket crashed in the area […]
By John Lee. Plans by Iraqi Airways to resume flights between Baghdad (pictured) and Damascus have reportedly been postponed. Syria's Ministry of Transportation said it had been informed of the "decision to postpone the trip of two Iraqi Airways planes today... until further notice," according to Rudaw. The Iraqi Embassy is said to have notified […]
GardaWorld, a global leader in comprehensive security and risk management, has made its weekly security report available to Iraq Business News readers. Prepared by GardaWorld's Risk Analysis Team in Iraq, this essential report includes short- and medium-term outlooks on the security situation, reports and commentary on recent significant events, and a detailed overview of developments […]
By John Lee. Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban (pictured) has reportedly said on Thursday that Iraq has contingency plans in place to cope with any stoppage of Iranian gas imports. His comments come as the US increases sanctions pressure on Iran. According to Reuters, Ghadhban added that he hopes no such disruption will take place. (Source: […]
By John Lee. Iraqi Airways will reportedly resume flights to the Syrian capital Damascus for the first time since 2011. According to AFP, Iraq's national carrier will operate a weekly service from Baghdad to Damascus starting on Saturday. (Source: AFP)
