The Daily Digest

Prime Minister al-Zaidi ordered draft legislation confining possession of weapons to the state and directed a boost to Iraq's air defences ahead of the US withdrawal, and Harakat al-Nujaba answered that it will not hand over its weapons. The prime minister said disarmament should be paired with an end to foreign air strikes and directed the air defence build-up as officials said US forces are on track to complete the pullout by September 30, a deadline Baghdad calls final and irreversible. Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said faction weapons risk Iraq's international isolation and said Iran had offered to help bring the armed groups under state control, which a source told Al Jazeera a top Iranian commander came to Baghdad to discuss.

Still on the security file, security forces seized more than 20 locally made drones in Baghdad, an operation Rudaw put at more than 20 drones as well; no owner is named in either account. A new commander, Kanan, was appointed to head Baghdad Operations.

Kataib Hezbollah's channels reported that wounded Popular Mobilization Forces personnel and families of the fallen, in a fifth day of a sit-in outside the National Retirement Authority in Baghdad over equal salary and pension treatment with Defence and Interior personnel, were assaulted while protesting; no supplied item names who used the force, no state body has given an account, and the militia digest beside this one carries the channel-level detail.

On the economy, a UAE firm has proposed shuttling Iraqi crude out through the Strait of Hormuz after Turkey let the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline deal expire, and the Oil Ministry denied blocking crude exports through Hormuz. SOMO said Baghdad, Erbil and the oil companies have renewed their tripartite export agreement, while the Kurdistan Region asked for double its crude allocation for local use and its ministry said it is ready to negotiate fuel supply with Baghdad.

Still on the economy, Asharq al-Awsat reported a crisis looming in southern Iraq over water and electricity shortages, and power failures have already sparked fresh unrest in Dhi Qar. An Iraqi economist said reserves are not a salary fund, and Shafaq reported more than 200,000 medical graduates waiting on government jobs.

On the domestic front, Asharq al-Awsat reported that a US 'veto' has stalled talks to complete al-Zaidi's government, and a figure in the Sudani coalition said the deals under discussion are 'protecting the corrupt'. Nineveh's police chief was arrested over a $15,000 bribe.

THINGS TO WATCH

The weapons draft law reaches parliament as a textmedium likelihoodhigh impactAl-Zaidi has ordered legislation confining possession of weapons to the state, so either a bill is referred to the legislature or the order sits unmoved.

A second faction publicly states whether it will hand over weaponshigh likelihoodmedium impactHarakat al-Nujaba has said flatly it will not hand over its weapons, which puts the same question to the other armed factions named in the disarmament file.

An Iraqi authority names the owner of the drones seized in Baghdadmedium likelihoodmedium impactMore than 20 locally made drones were seized in Baghdad with no owner identified in the security forces' account.

Baghdad rules on the KRG's request for double crude allocationmedium likelihoodmedium impactThe Kurdistan Region has asked for twice its crude allocation for local use and says it is ready to negotiate fuel supply, so a federal answer is owed.

Protests over power or water break out in a southern province beyond Dhi Qarhigh likelihoodmedium impactPower failures have already produced unrest in Dhi Qar while Asharq al-Awsat flags a looming south-wide water and electricity crisis.