The Daily Digest

Kata'ib Hezbollah's secretary-general Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi rejected relinquishing the resistance's weapons and pledged to develop them and enlarge the arsenal in a statement issued in his name late this afternoon on the group's official media centre, its Al-Ittijah television channel and the affiliated Sabereen News, naming "the American-Saudi enemy" over a crime against "our sons"; KH names Washington and Riyadh as perpetrators but claims no retaliatory action, and the desk records no Iraqi faction claiming a strike in this window. The refusal answers conditions Shafaq News reports the United States has set, tying release of a $30 billion fund to Iraqi weapons control. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has formed a state committee to prevent attacks on neighbouring states and, Asharq al-Awsat reports, warned against renewed attacks on neighbouring countries from Iraqi territory, with National Wisdom Movement leader Ammar al-Hakim backing those reform efforts and Shafaq News reporting neighbours threatening to strike Iran-aligned factions on Iraqi soil. The channel-by-channel account of the KH statement is in the Militia Digest published beside this briefing.

On the economy, state marketer SOMO offered deep discounts for crude loading inside the Strait of Hormuz, a Reuters-seen document shows, and separately discounted Basrah crude for August; the oil ministry puts first-half export earnings at 18.6 billion dollars. The finance minister has asked to brief parliament on the country's financial crisis while Shafaq News reports delayed public salaries pushing Diyala families into debt and the central bank's limits being tested by them.

In the north, the oil ministry has tied fuel distribution in the Kurdistan Region to KRG oil transfers to the federal marketer as a shortage bites there, and a fire broke out at one of Iraq's largest refineries. Iraqi and Iranian officials discussed developments in the Strait of Hormuz, Baghdad welcoming diplomacy over the waterway in the call with Tehran, and a new Najaf depot added 3,000 cubic metres to Iraq's LPG storage.

Still in the north, Foreign Minister-level statements marked the 12th anniversary of the Yazidi genocide with a reaffirmed commitment to justice for its victims, while Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani urged Baghdad to designate Shingal a province and to implement the Sinjar Agreement. PUK delegations carried congratulations from party president Bafel Talabani and the Kurdistan Region's deputy president to the Yazidis, and Iraqi forces destroyed an ISIS-linked munitions cache in Nineveh, the province around Shingal.

On the regional file, Barzani flew to Damascus on 3 August for a summit with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, received at Damascus International Airport by the Syrian presidential protocol with the Kurdistan flag flying after Rudaw had trailed the meeting the previous afternoon. Iraqi state media say NATO has agreed to open an office in Baghdad.

On the security file, Iraqi News reports US forces gradually withdrawing from northern Iraq, and Basnews reports IRGC forces raiding a border area in Kurdistan's Pshdar, the account carrying "reportedly" in its own headline. The Kurdistan Democratic Party's Erbil organisational bureau denied circulating reports of a change involving the Erbil governor and its Branch 2 head, saying no such decision exists so far.

THINGS TO WATCH

An August loading or export volume published against SOMO's Hormuz discountsmedium likelihoodmedium impactSOMO cut prices deeply for crude loading inside Hormuz and on Basrah grades to move barrels, so the next official loading or export figure shows whether the discounts pulled buyers.

Kurdistan fuel allocations resumed after a confirmed KRG oil transfermedium likelihoodmedium impactBaghdad has explicitly conditioned fuel distribution on KRG oil transfers, so either a transfer is announced and allocations flow or the shortage in the Region deepens.

A federal cabinet or parliamentary step on Shingal province or the Sinjar Agreementlow likelihoodmedium impactBarzani demanded province designation and implementation on the anniversary and the foreign ministry pledged justice, but only a designation or an implementation measure from Baghdad would move the file.

A stated outcome from the Barzani–al-Sharaa meeting in Damascusmedium likelihoodmedium impactThe summit was held today with full Syrian presidential protocol at the airport, so a readout or signed understanding should surface within days if one exists.

NATO or the Iraqi government confirms the Baghdad office in its own namemedium likelihoodlow impactOnly Iraqi state media has reported the agreement so far, so a NATO or government statement would settle whether the office is agreed.