The Daily Digest

Baghdad tightened the disarmament file on Monday against factions that have until Sept. 30 to hand weapons to the Popular Mobilization Forces: the government says it has registered 6 million firearms and closed 71 'fake' PMF offices, offices the PMF itself disavowed as 'ghost' sites and denied any link to. Groups that refuse to hand over weapons will face legal action, the government says the deadline cannot be ignored and there will be no compromise on the initiative, and the ministry now treats any unauthorized drone launch from Iraqi soil as a 'terrorist act'.

Still on the security file, the reckoning over the strikes on PMF headquarters that Washington and Riyadh are named as having carried out ran in three directions at once. Parliament formed a committee to investigate the strikes, Iran urged Iraqi militia groups to halt attacks on Saudi Arabia, and US President Donald Trump said Washington will demand compensation for soldiers killed by Iran-made IEDs in Iraq. The prime minister's office says no date is set for his rescheduled Riyadh visit.

In the militia space, the blame turned inward this afternoon: a spokesman for Muqtada al-Sadr demanded an internal PMF investigation into the leadership's alleged failure to notify or evacuate its bases beforehand, and Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official) sharpened that into a question about who prevented the evacuation decision three hours before the bombardment; the PMF's reply, aired on Al-Janoub TV (Harakat al-Jihad wal-Bina — official), was a denial that Falih al-Fayyadh personally had prior knowledge — narrower than the charge. No militia has claimed retaliation, and no Iraqi official is named in the collected material as having blocked an evacuation; the militia digest beside this one has the channel-level detail.

On the domestic front, the graft crackdown reached a sitting minister's office and the money held abroad: authorities arrested senior Trade Ministry official Hashem al-Sudani, MPs convicted of corruption have lost their police protection details, and Baghdad has brought in international experts to trace stolen funds held overseas.

On the economy, protests over electricity left two people injured in Dhi Qar, and farmers protested in Baghdad over unpaid dues and contract renewals. The oil ministry set out dual pipeline routes to Fishkhabur and Baniyas via Chevron, presented as expanding marketing options after shipping disruption pushed Iraqi trade toward the Syrian market, and Iraqi Airways resumed direct Basra-Delhi flights.

In the north, Kurdish lawmakers moved to block food-ration card transfers in the Article 140 disputed areas, and Kurdistan24 reports an Iraqi army trench has destroyed 49 acres of Kurdish farmers' land in Kirkuk. Turkey's parliament opened debate Monday on a pardon-like bill for thousands of PKK militants, a text the PKK has criticised.

THINGS TO WATCH

A named faction is referred for legal action after the Sept. 30 handover deadlinelow likelihoodhigh impactThe government said groups refusing to disarm will face legal action and that it will not compromise on the initiative, so the test is whether a specific group is named in a referral.

Iraqi authorities apply the 'terrorist act' label to a specific drone launchmedium likelihoodmedium impactThe ministry declared unauthorized drone launches from Iraqi soil a terrorist act, so the next launch or intercepted cell shows whether the label appears in an actual charge.

Baghdad answers Trump's IED compensation demand on the recordmedium likelihoodhigh impactTrump said Washington will demand compensation for soldiers killed by Iran-made IEDs in Iraq, a claim no Iraqi official is reported as having answered.

Turkey's parliament votes on the PKK framework billmedium likelihoodhigh impactDebate opened Monday on the pardon-like bill for thousands of PKK fighters and the PKK has already criticised it, so a floor vote is the settling occurrence.

The Trade Ministry official's arrest is followed by charges against the minister's officemedium likelihoodmedium impactThe arrest of senior Trade Ministry official Hashem al-Sudani follows warrants against two former ministers, so whether the file climbs to the sitting ministry is testable.