The Daily Digest

Iraq's government formed a security committee tasked with preventing attacks against neighbouring states, the step announced today after Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered a deterrence plan on 1 August to stop attacks launched from Iraqi soil, in the wake of the drone strikes on Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. The Popular Mobilization Forces have emptied outposts across Nineveh over fears of further US strikes, and Iraqi News reports that a raid on a base of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba failed, which it frames as exposing the challenges in the disarmament push. Jordan has threatened to strike Iranian-backed militias in Iraq if they launch attacks on the kingdom.

The Iraqi government today denied reports that US aircraft had landed at Ain al-Asad air base. The Iraqi Security Media Cell said an explosion at Camp Taji was caused by ammunition detonating in the heat, attributing it to no attack — both statements are the state moving to strip a hostile reading off events at its own bases on a day US embassies in Baghdad and Amman have told Americans to prepare for possible escalation across the Middle East.

Al-Ahad TV, Asaib Ahl al-Haq's official channel, published late this morning what it presented as a signed Council of Ministers order dated 30 July ending Haidar Hasan Jabal al-Shamri's assignment as acting head of the Diwan of the Shia Endowment and returning him to Baghdad University's College of Medicine. The desk's visual review notes the page is partly obscured and that the document's authenticity would need corroboration; no other tracked channel carried the document or the decision, and no Endowment, Council of Ministers or Najaf body is on record responding. The same channel turned in the afternoon to the budget, reporting Ammar al-Hakim and al-Zaidi affirming that Iraq's financial crisis should be met by diversifying income sources and oil-export outlets.

The oil ministry said a new Basra-Ceyhan pipeline should be completed in three years, the day after Baghdad and Ankara signed the one-year, 750,000-barrels-a-day Ceyhan agreement that Iraq's state news agency calls a cornerstone for securing exports. A member of parliament urged the central bank to create more money while the state runs without a budget, an analyst told 964 Media that Iraq needs a 10-trillion-dinar borrowing law to pay salaries, and one assessment carried by Shafaq puts the problem as a cash-flow strain rather than bankruptcy.

NATO will open an office in Baghdad, an official said today, while the US-led coalition presses ahead with what Washington describes as a pre-planned withdrawal from the Kurdistan Region — a pull-out Rudaw reports leaves the region exposed as Iranian attacks intensify. The alliance's arrival in the capital and the coalition's departure from the north are being announced in the same week.

An official said Baghdad is committed to facilitating the return of displaced Yazidis, on the day the President of the Kurdistan Region congratulated the Yazidi Emir and Yazidis on the Chelay Havin festival, calling the Region a homeland for all. Kurdistan24 reports separately that Türkiye, Iraq and the KRG have reached an understanding to close Makhmour camp under a new peace framework.

An Iraqi court recovered IQD 20 billion in corruption and money-laundering cases, and investigators raided an exchange company as part of the Al-Jumaili corruption investigation. Both moves land while the government is running without a budget and short of cash to pay salaries.

THINGS TO WATCH

A state body confirms or denies the Shia Endowment order Al-Ahad TV publishedmedium likelihoodmedium impactAsaib Ahl al-Haq's channel published a purported 30 July Council of Ministers order ending al-Shamri's acting assignment that the desk could not corroborate and that no Endowment, Council of Ministers or Najaf body has answered.

The new security committee names units, arrests or referrals over cross-border launchesmedium likelihoodhigh impactBaghdad announced a committee to prevent attacks on neighbouring states the same week a raid on a Nujaba base failed, so the first published enforcement result is the test of whether the body has teeth.

NATO names a date or site for the Baghdad officemedium likelihoodmedium impactAn official said today the NATO mission will open a Baghdad office, a commitment specific enough to be dated or located in follow-up reporting.

A borrowing bill or budget measure is sent to parliamentmedium likelihoodhigh impactAn analyst puts the salary gap at a 10-trillion-dinar borrowing law while a lawmaker presses the central bank to create money, and the state is operating with no budget passed.

Jordan acts on its threat to strike Iranian-backed militias in Iraqlow likelihoodhigh impactAmman has said publicly it would strike the militias if they attack the kingdom, and PMF outposts in Nineveh are already being emptied over strike fears.