The Daily Digest

Badr Organization political office head Mohammed Naji was quoted saying the factions will not allow the prime minister to hand over the resistance's weapons by force — the sharpest answer yet to Prime Minister al-Zaidi's drive to confine weapons to the state, but carried by iNEWS (KSS — affiliated) rather than a Badr-owned channel, with no Badr-issued text in hand. Al-Ittijah TV (KH — official) carried Hoquq bloc MP Mohammed Jabbar al-Hasnawi saying the weapons cannot be surrendered, and Kataib Hezbollah's Wasit representation head Muhammad al-Safi set an end to occupation and independence of the economy as conditions, arguing the arsenal should be strengthened rather than removed; the channel-by-channel record sits in the militia digest beside this one, which also carries Kurdistan24's report that Badr warned disarmament could trigger civil war. Dozens of 'fake' Popular Mobilization headquarters have been closed, Amwaj reported, with ambiguities remaining, and the prime minister's spokesman marked his first 100 days as a new phase of security stability.

Still on the security file, Iraq's Security Media Cell said there is no indication the drones that struck around Erbil late on 13 August were launched from Iraqi territory — an official denial issued while the Iraqi intelligence and defence delegation was in Riyadh, and with no faction having claimed the strikes in the material collected. Shafaq set the coordination against the Mecca defence pact question, asking whether Baghdad's stance amounts to strategic neutrality or growing isolation.

On the economy, the oil ministry said August exports have rebounded to 2 million barrels a day with new pipelines planned, a level Asharq al-Awsat called the highest since the start of the war, while Rudaw reported the same day that plummeting exports cast a shadow over the 2027 budget draft. A lawmaker said parliament will hold the budget's first reading next week.

Still on the economy, Baghdad detained an electricity ministry undersecretary in what Asharq al-Awsat described as a stepped-up anti-corruption campaign, the second senior arrest in two days after the Nineveh police chief was held over a bribe. The detention comes as a heatwave reaching 50°C strains the grid the ministry runs.

THINGS TO WATCH

Parliament holds the first reading of the 2027 budgetmedium likelihoodhigh impactA lawmaker put the first reading 'next week', a diary date that either arrives in the chamber or slips.

A referred case or charges named against the detained electricity undersecretarymedium likelihoodmedium impactAsharq al-Awsat reported the detention as part of a stepped-up campaign; whether it produces a referred case tests enforcement against announcement.

Baghdad or Riyadh names a launch point or actor for the Erbil droneslow likelihoodhigh impactThe Security Media Cell only ruled out Iraqi territory, leaving the origin question unanswered by any state body.

Baghdad states a formal position on the Mecca defence pactlow likelihoodmedium impactShafaq put Iraq's neutrality as the open question behind the Riyadh security track, and the pact requires an answer to join or abstain.

Ministry or SOMO month-end figure confirms the 2 million bpd August averagemedium likelihoodmedium impactThe oil ministry's 2 million bpd is a mid-month average that the month-end export figure will either confirm or undercut.