The Daily Digest
Iraq's oil exports were hit by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and by disruptions in Kurdistan, and Baghdad has responded on three fronts at once: state marketer SOMO cut prices on Basrah crude for August, Iraqi and Iranian officials discussed the Hormuz situation in a call in which Baghdad welcomed diplomacy over the strait. The fiscal side hardened the same day: the finance minister asked to brief parliament on the financial crisis and sought an audience with deputies, with domestic debt now above 103 trillion dinars and delayed public salaries pushing families in Diyala into debt. Iraq earned 18.6 billion dollars from oil exports in the first half of 2026, and the desk's own indicator puts the parallel dinar rate in Erbil at 152,750 per 100 dollars, up 1.3 percent on the previous observation.
On the security file, Washington has tied the release of 30 billion dollars in Iraqi assets to militia disarmament in reports out of Baghdad, and Kataib Hezbollah answered by vowing to expand its arsenal. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi warned against renewed attacks on neighbouring countries from Iraqi territory as neighbours threatened to strike Iran-aligned factions, while US forces withdraw gradually from northern Iraq and a reported Patriot pull-out from Erbil remains unconfirmed in Shafaq News's account. Al-Zaidi is due in Saudi Arabia next week, a trip mediation cleared.
In the north, Asaib Ahl al-Haq leader Qais al-Khazali marked the twelfth anniversary of the Islamic State genocide against the Yazidis with a statement demanding Baghdad end the administrative vacuum that has left Sinjar without a settled administration since 2017 and fund returns for more than 120,000 people still in displacement camps — the group's own outlets carried the identical text within four minutes, and the channel-by-channel account is in the Militia Digest published beside this briefing. That converges with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, who urged Baghdad to implement the Sinjar Agreement, make Shingal a province and remove illegal forces; a commander on the ground blamed government failure for hindering Yazidi return, and the foreign minister reaffirmed a commitment to justice for the victims.
Still in the north, Barzani flew to Damascus and was received with official protocol at the airport, and the Kurdistan Region Presidency said his meeting with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa stressed protecting the rights of all of Syria's components; the Kurdistan flag was raised at the People's Palace in Damascus for the first time. Separately, Iraq's Security Media Cell said more than 4.8 million pilgrims have entered the country for Arbaeen, with Iran's foreign minister using his visitation trip to call Iran-Iraq relations the best ever.