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AMWAJDinar devaluation fuels showdown over Iraq’s 2027 budget18MRUDAWIraqi 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barrel discount for November oil sales10HSHAFAQIraq targets zero North Oil flaring by 202711HSHAFAQPKK: All fighters withdrawn from Turkiye11HAPIraq rejects Syrian request to repatriate 4,000 suspected IS detainees, official says11HINAIraq and Kuwait Discuss Developing Security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

SUNDAY, 9 AUGUST 2026 · MORNING EDITION

The Daily Digest

Iraq's oil exports have fallen 75% to 1.75 million barrels per day with the Strait of Hormuz closed, and Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani said the crisis exposes the vulnerabilities of Iraq's oil exports. The minister said the Basra-Haditha pipeline will be operational soon, that the Basra-Kurdistan Region line has been rehabilitated to boost exports, and that talks are underway to raise the Kurdistan oil quota. The ministry also activated the Kirkuk field development contract with BP and agreed to compensate oil companies for damages, and an MP said parliament will investigate rising gasoline prices in the Kurdistan Region.

Still on the economy, Lebanon is inspecting facilities for Iraqi fuel oil transit through Syria, the overland route for product that does not pass Hormuz, while the freight cost of the sea route showed in India's Reliance paying a record 25 million dollars to lift Iraqi crude.

On the security file, Iraqi forces dismantled a network allegedly planning drone attacks and seized drones from an armed cell in Babil, and the army chief dissolved East Tigris Operations Command. A Shiite official cut the other way, saying Iraq's security needs an "auxiliary force" until US troops fully withdraw, a formulation that runs against the government's disarmament line.

In the north, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said the region wants to stay out of the regional conflicts, and put the region's exposure at more than 1,000 missile and drone attacks. Amwaj reports that a rare appeal narrowly kept Iraq away from the bloody flare-up in the region, and Turkey's parliamentary justice committee approved a framework bill for the PKK peace process.

In the militia space, Al-Nujaba TV (Nujaba — official) and Sabereen News (KH — affiliated) published the same sentence this morning saying the Popular Mobilization Forces' anti-armour formation is reinforcing its First Battalion's deployment on the Iraqi-Syrian border, the KH-affiliated channel nine minutes ahead of Nujaba's own television outlet. Desk visual review of the accompanying image found no unit markings or geolocatable features and no PMF official channel is observed carrying the claim in this window, so neither the unit nor the location is confirmed; the militia digest published beside this one has the detail.

On the domestic front, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani relayed messages between Prime Minister al-Zaidi and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, described as paving the way for a Damascus visit; al-Zaidi discussed bilateral ties and regional developments with French President Emmanuel Macron, and the same call was reported as covering regional tensions and the coalition withdrawal. The Saudi intelligence chief's renewed Riyadh invitation to the prime minister, delivered in Baghdad, remains open.

The government says it reached "understandings" with Turkey and Syria to increase water releases, with no upstream confirmation reported in the same window, while the Green Iraq Observatory says recurring fish deaths expose a deepening environmental crisis, a picture Iraqi News sets out as seven signs of a deepening water and pollution crisis.

THINGS TO WATCH
Basra-Haditha pipeline reported flowingmedium likelihoodhigh impactThe oil minister said the line will be operational "soon", so either a start-up announcement or a slipped date should be stated publicly.
A raised Kurdistan export quota is published as a figuremedium likelihoodhigh impactThe minister says talks are underway to raise the Kurdistan quota; a ministry or KRG number would settle whether the overland workaround carries real volume.
Iraqi export volumes published above 1.75 million bpdhigh likelihoodhigh impactExports fell 75% to 1.75 million bpd with Hormuz closed, so the next official export figure tests whether the pipeline and transit workarounds recover any of it.
Turkey or Syria confirms increased water releases in its own voicelow likelihoodmedium impactOnly Baghdad has described "understandings" on releases; an upstream statement or a measured rise in flows would verify or deflate it.
Al-Zaidi travels to Damascusmedium likelihoodmedium impactNechirvan Barzani's relay of messages was described as paving the way for a Damascus visit, which a dated trip would confirm.
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