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IRAQI NEWSNo mercy for corrupt officials as Al-Zaidi widens Iraq crackdown1HIRAQI NEWSIraq opens its first IMAX cinema in Baghdad2HIRAQI NEWSIraq arrests senior Trade Ministry official Hashem Al-Sudani2HIRAQI NEWSIraq steps up digital transformation of banking and customs3HIRAQI NEWSFormer Iraq finance minister Taif Sami summoned in widening corruption probe3HAL JAZEERAFormer Iraqi provincial governor arrested as graft crackdown continues4HRUDAWErbil-Baghdad ties in ‘very good’ phase: President Barzani4HTHE NEW REGIONIraqi parliament speakership backs controversial PMF law: Deputy speaker6HIRAQI NEWSIraq poses ultimate test for OPEC+ cohesion following UAE exit6HIRAQI NEWSBaghdad Appeals Court issues two arrest warrants for former Labor Minister Ahmed Al-Asadi6HKURDISTAN24Iraq's PMF Rejects Accusations Against Falih al-Fayyadh6HKURDISTAN24Iraq Dismantles Armed Cell in Babil, Seizes Drones6HKURDISTAN24The Volkswagen Called 'Brazili' in Iraq and 'Iraquiano' in Brazil6HKURDISTAN24Iraq Arrests Automobile Company Chief in Corruption Probe6HBASNEWSIraq Recovers 390 Billion Dinars, $141 Million and 500kg of Gold in Anti-Corruption Crackdown7HRUDAWBaghdad court issues arrest warrants for former Iraqi minister, militia leader8H
Iraq Monitorعين على العراقPrimary-source intelligence
THE BRIEFING · A PERMANENT EDITION

Sunday, 9 August 2026

EVENING EDITION

The Daily Digest

The militia parliamentary voices put a condition on disarmament this evening: Falih al-Khazali, head of the KSS' Muntasirun bloc, said on Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official) that his bloc backs confining weapons to the state only after the Iraqi army is strengthened and against guarantees that Turkish forces leave Iraq, putting the toll from American attacks at 108 martyrs among the security forces. Within the hour a text in the name of Akram al-Kaabi, secretary-general of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, went out on three Nujaba channels rejecting the premise outright; al-Kaabi had already pushed a military response to the Saudi strikes and attacked Riyadh in a televised tirade calling for strikes. Washington has warned Baghdad it will retaliate directly for any militia attack on Saudi Arabia, and Prime Minister al-Zaidi told French President Emmanuel Macron the coalition withdrawal is set for 30 September, the same date Shafaq describes as testing his authority over disarmament.

Still on the security file, the Popular Mobilization Forces blamed a Shabak brigade's 'negligence' ahead of the deadly US-Saudi strikes, then denied it had received any warning of the attacks and threatened lawsuits against accusers and rejected the accusations levelled at its chairman Falih al-Fayyadh. A deputy speaker said the parliamentary speakership backs the contested PMF law, the vehicle that would put the force's status into statute as the handover deadline nears.

On the domestic front, the Baghdad Appeals Court issued two arrest warrants for former Labor Minister Ahmed al-Asadi, and former finance minister Taif Sami was summoned in the widening corruption probe, a day after security forces raided the home of former prime minister al-Sudani's brother. Authorities arrested former Salah al-Din governor Abu Mazen and the head of an automobile company, and put the recoveries at 390 billion dinars, 141 million dollars and 500kg of gold.

On the economy, a lawmaker says Baghdad plans to move 400,000 barrels of Basra crude through Kurdistan, the northern route the oil minister said he has opened by rehabilitating the Basra-Kurdistan line, with exports down to 1.75 million barrels per day. Iraqi News casts Iraq as the ultimate test of OPEC+ cohesion following the UAE's exit, and a new Basra union threatens to close oil fields over five demands.

In the north, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said relations between Erbil and Baghdad are in a 'very good' phase, having relayed messages between al-Zaidi and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in a step described as paving the way for a Damascus visit. Parliament will meanwhile investigate rising gasoline prices in the Kurdistan Region, an MP says, and Baghdad's reported understandings with Turkey and Syria on water releases stand against shortages that slashed the 2025 crop, as Shafaq sets out the production figures.

THINGS TO WATCH
Coalition withdrawal on 30 September confirmed or renegotiated in Baghdadmedium likelihoodhigh impactAl-Zaidi told Macron the date is set, while Shafaq reports the same date as the test of his authority over the weapons file — either a firm confirmation or a slipped ceiling should surface.
PMF files the lawsuits it threatened over the strike-warning allegationslow likelihoodmedium impactThe PMF publicly denied receiving warning of the US-Saudi strikes and threatened legal action against accusers, which is either lodged or dropped.
Basra-Haditha pipeline declared operational by the oil ministrymedium likelihoodhigh impactThe oil minister said the line will be operational soon, and with Hormuz shut the ministry has every reason to announce the day it flows.
Basra union names a date for the oil field closureslow likelihoodhigh impactThe new union attached five demands to a closure threat without naming a date, so a date or a settlement is the next step.
Al-Asadi detained or a hearing set on the two warrantsmedium likelihoodmedium impactThe Baghdad Appeals Court has issued two arrest warrants for the former labour minister, so execution or a court appearance should follow.

The Militia Digest

The militia parliamentary voices put a condition on disarmament this evening. Falih al-Khazali, head of the KSS' Muntasirun bloc, said across three segments on Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official) that the bloc backs confining resistance weapons to the state only after the army is strengthened and against guarantees that Turkish forces leave Iraq — a condition Baghdad does not control — while insisting handover and stripping are different things. He put the toll from American attacks at 108 martyrs among the security forces, said Washington prevents the arming of the Iraqi army, and said Saudi Arabia had achieved its aim of internal division; he also endorsed the prime minister's Washington visit. Within the same hour, a text in the name of Akram al-Kaabi, secretary-general of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (Iran-aligned Iraqi armed faction), went out on three Nujaba channels inside about half a minute rejecting the premise, arguing that Iraqi compliance over the Popular Mobilization Forces rests on American receipt of Iraqi oil proceeds and calling confronting the American project a duty the resistance has taken on.

The Nujaba text names no target and carries no claim of an attack.

In the militia space, Asaib Ahl al-Haq routed its answer to the strikes on Popular Mobilization Forces headquarters — which its channels attribute to Saudi and American forces, with no militia claim of retaliation — entirely through Iraqi state machinery. Al-Ahad TV reported that the Sadiqoun bloc had begun procedures to summon the prime minister, the defence and foreign ministers and the security commanders over what it calls Saudi-American aggression, and demanded the foreign ministry call in the Saudi ambassador. Bloc chief Adi Awad said on the same channel that the attacks cannot be covered under any pretext, and the bloc separately equated any strike on official PMF headquarters with aggression against the Iraqi state and its sovereignty. All of it rests on Asaib Ahl al-Haq's own broadcaster; the underlying attacks are not described in the collected material.

Still in the militia space, the same camp split over whether Baghdad knew the strikes were coming. Al-Ahad TV reported First Deputy Speaker Adnan Faihan directing a fact-finding committee and a one-week government report on the government's alleged prior knowledge, and Al-Ittijah TV (KH — official) then reported parliament had formed it; in the same half-hour Sabereen News (KH — affiliated) carried a Popular Mobilization Commission statement condemning "in the strongest terms" the same accusation levelled at its chairman Falih al-Fayyadh as baseless, naming no politician. Sadiqoun deputy Jasim Muhammad told Al-Ahad TV that the government did have advance knowledge and that its investigations have produced nothing, while in the same appearance saying the bloc does not believe Trump's statement that Baghdad was informed. The Commission's rejection of the accusations against al-Fayyadh was also reported outside the militia channels; the foreknowledge claim itself has no outside coverage in the window.

On the PMF file, two Popular Mobilization Forces statements on the same casualties appeared twenty minutes apart on rival faction outlets. Al-Ahad TV carried the PMF saying Battalion 4 of Brigade 30 had not taken all the established precautionary measures, which led to the largest number of its members being killed during the attacks, and that an investigation had been opened with those responsible. Sabereen News had earlier carried a PMF line that protecting its personnel remains the leadership's foremost responsibility and that it would not let their sacrifices become material for political bidding. No PMF-owned channel in the collected set carried either statement, and the casualty event is described only in these two texts.

On the legislative front, the same demand to pass the PMF service and retirement law ran across four networks this afternoon and evening, credited to different people by each. Four Badr- and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada-linked channels carried the call within about half an hour, with Al-Kornet al-Kata'ibi and iNEWS (both KSS — affiliated) naming Khazali's Muntasirun bloc, Watan TV (Badr — affiliated) attributing it to bloc leaders in the plural and alone specifying the service and retirement law, and Badr's official Al-Ghadeer TV leaving the source unnamed. Al-Ahad TV twice carried Faihan calling passage an entitlement owed to the martyrs and wounded and added that the speakership backs the bill, a line Al-Ittijah TV's report on the parliamentary signature drive did not carry; Al-Janoub TV (Harakat al-Jihad wal-Bina — official) carried its own MP calling the law a top priority. The speakership's backing was reported outside the militia channels; no referral, scheduled vote or bill text appears anywhere in the material.

On the domestic front, this morning's anti-corruption thread widened past provincial officials to former ministers, and the militia channels' silence on the arresting authority ended with the courts naming themselves. A Baghdad appeals court issued two arrest warrants for former Labour Minister Ahmed al-Asadi, former finance minister Taif Sami was summoned in the widening probe, and the state put recoveries at 390 billion dinars, $141 million and 500kg of gold. Meanwhile Al-Ghadeer TV ran five cabinet decisions as official statements inside six minutes without adding a word of Badr comment, four of the five shifting authority from ministries toward governorates, including a bar on the Oil Ministry approving private-generator fuel quotas without reference to Baghdad Governorate.

THINGS TO WATCH
Sadiqoun's summons of the prime minister and ministers is actually heldmedium likelihoodhigh impactAsaib Ahl al-Haq's channel says the bloc has begun procedures to host the prime minister, the defence and foreign ministers and the security commanders over the strikes, an event that either takes place in parliament or does not.
The one-week government report on prior knowledge is deliveredmedium likelihoodmedium impactAl-Ahad TV reported First Deputy Speaker Adnan Faihan setting a one-week deadline for the government to report on its failure to take measures before the strikes, which falls inside the window.
The PMF service and retirement bill reaches parliamentmedium likelihoodhigh impactFour networks carried the demand that the government refer the bill and Al-Ahad TV said the speakership wants it sent in the coming days, yet the material records no referral, vote date or bill text.
A PMF-owned channel publishes on the Battalion 4 casualtiesmedium likelihoodmedium impactBoth statements on the deaths reached readers only through Asaib Ahl al-Haq's and Kataib Hezbollah's outlets, and the investigation announced with those responsible would normally produce a PMF-owned publication.
Nujaba names a site or timetable in its own voicelow likelihoodhigh impactThe text in Akram al-Kaabi's name calls confronting the American project a resistance duty but names no target and carries no attack claim, so any move from doctrine to a specified target would be visible on Nujaba's own channels.
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The Briefing — Sunday, 9 August 2026, evening edition · Iraq Monitor