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AMWAJDinar devaluation fuels showdown over Iraq’s 2027 budget17MRUDAWIraqi PM defends dinar devaluation amid public anger5HTHE NEW REGIONCoordination Framework slams dinar devaluation, proposes relief measures5HTHE NEW REGIONDrones target Iranian Kurdish opposition group in Erbil province5HSHAFAQTwo-drone attack targets refugee camp in Erbil5HSHAFAQPM Al-Zaidi explains 1,500-dinar dollar rate to parliament7HKURDISTAN24Iraqi PM: Speculators Benefited from Previous Dollar Rate Differential7HSHAFAQSource: Iraqi leaders backed dollar hike before announcement8HIRAQI NEWSSyria to provide alternative route for Iraq’s oil exports9HTHE NEW REGIONIraqi PM Zaidi to appear in parliament over dinar devaluation: MP10HIRAQI NEWSIraq offers $2.80 per barrel discount for November oil sales10HSHAFAQIraq targets zero North Oil flaring by 202710HSHAFAQPKK: All fighters withdrawn from Turkiye11HAPIraq rejects Syrian request to repatriate 4,000 suspected IS detainees, official says11HINAIraq and Kuwait Discuss Developing Security Cooperation and Enhancing the Security of Their Shared Border11H964 MEDIAFederal agency arrests terrorism suspect in Erbil in joint operation with Kurdish forces12H
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IRAQ MONITOR · THE BRIEFING

The Daily Digest

TUESDAY, 28 JULY 2026 · MORNING EDITION

The Daily Digest

Iraq's drone file hardened from accusation into multilateral censure inside a day. At 04:40 UTC Asharq al-Awsat reported the OIC condemning Iran-backed militia attacks launched from Iraqi territory; two hours later Middle East Eye carried the Islamic Resistance in Iraq denying the strikes, and by 05:38 The New Region reported it warning Riyadh over the accusation.

Kurdistan24 then reported Jordan downing a drone near the Iraqi and Saudi borders, Iraqi News a US drone shot down in western Iraq, and at 19:47 Reuters carried Riyadh saying drones launched from Iraq at its oil facilities were intercepted, with The New Region reporting Saudi Arabia urging Baghdad to restrain pro-Iran militias as Baghdad ordered a probe.

With that pressure on the table, the prime minister spent the day in Ankara buying a second axis. AP reported al-Zaidi in Turkey for talks on pipeline, trade and security after Iraqi News quoted him on economic integration as a regional success story; by 18:07 Reuters had Erdogan saying Turkey aims to sign an energy cooperation deal with Iraq, and at 19:30 The New Region reported agreements inked during the visit, Kurdistan24 framing it as a deeper economic and security partnership. Al-Monitor had reported Kurds feeling sidelined as the ties took off; Iraqi News, separately, described the PM expanding his powers while deadlock delays cabinet completion.

The Turkey line is not consensus even inside the armed camp, and that is where the day's militia traffic sits. iNEWS (Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada — affiliated) headlined al-Jabiri's line that "we are heading toward alliance and integration with Turkey" alongside al-Jaza'iri's interruption questioning his consistency — the desk records this as divergence aired on a KSS-linked platform, not a leadership split, since the supplied evidence does not establish either speaker's office.

The desk measures 13 of 33 watched channels across 6 networks surging on the Iraqi state since 26 July, and the state, not Riyadh, was the target: Al-Ahad TV (Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq — official) carried guest economists alleging 20 trillion dinars a year in escaping oil revenue and lost tanker capacity threatening salaries, while Sabereen News (Kata'ib Hezbollah — affiliated) published what it presented as Administrative Court summonses against Anbar's governor over 7,000 state property parcels, a document whose authenticity is not independently established.

Those revenue grievances land on an energy economy pulling apart at both ends. The desk's crude export indicator reads 488,000 bpd, up 398.0% on the previous reading observed 30 June, Rudaw carried SOMO reporting 32.1M barrels and $2.3B for May and June, and the RSISX index sits at 2,834.7, up 1.9%. Against that, AP described drivers enduring overnight gas lines in a war-driven fuel shortage gripping the Kurdish region, after Iraqi News reported a drone attack on the Khor Mor gas field and Kurdistan24 reported Kurdish MPs seeking higher oil allocations.

THINGS TO WATCH
Findings of Baghdad's ordered drone investigationmedium likelihoodhigh impactIraq ordered a probe into alleged drone launches at Saudi Arabia on the same day the Islamic Resistance denied responsibility, so any finding tests Baghdad's sovereignty claim against Riyadh's accusation.
Signature of the Turkey-Iraq energy instrumenthigh likelihoodhigh impactErdogan said Turkey aims to sign an energy cooperation deal even as other agreements were already inked in Ankara, leaving one specific instrument still outstanding.
The 30 August Anbar hearing datemedium likelihoodmedium impactThe paperwork Sabereen News published sets a hearing for 2026/8/30 in case 3186/ق/2026, a fixed diary date on documents the desk holds at preponderance only.
Corroboration of the Kirkuk licence-forgery arrestsmedium likelihoodlow impactWatan TV (Badr Organization — affiliated) reported an Integrity Commission network arrest with no commission statement and no peer carriage in the collected window, so the arrests stay unconfirmed here.
Whether the electricity-money line becomes a Badr campaignmedium likelihoodmedium impactWatan TV asked where the trillions allocated to the electricity sector went with no named target and no accompanying Badr official statement, so whether it belongs to a wider campaign cannot yet be judged.
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The Daily Digest — Tuesday, 28 July 2026, morning edition · Iraq Monitor