The Daily Digest

Prime Minister al-Zaidi's drive to confine weapons to the state drew a public price from the armed factions. Al-Ittijah TV (KH — official) attributed to the Badr Organization the position that there is no disarmament before Iraq is liberated and that restricting weapons is conditional on ending the foreign presence, while Kurdistan24 reported earlier the same morning that Badr warned disarming Iraqi armed groups could trigger civil war; neither line is Badr's own wording, and no Badr-owned channel item is in the retrieved evidence. Another Iraqi armed group told Shafaq there would be no disarmament before US withdrawal and air defenses, while the government fixed 30 September for the US-led coalition's exit and Amwaj reported the closure of dozens of 'fake' Popular Mobilization headquarters, with ambiguities remaining.

Still on the security file, new legislation would also settle overdue Popular Mobilization Forces benefits and integration, Shafaq reported, and Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said armed factions will push Iraq to marginalization. Iraqi MPs and experts told the state news agency that ending the coalition mission and restricting weapons to the state would advance Iraq toward stability.

Channels of KH, the Badr Organization, Ashab al-Kahf (Harakat al-Nujaba front) and Nujaba reported drone strikes late on 13 August on American positions around Erbil and on hotels housing American personnel, with no faction claiming responsibility in the material collected; the channel-level detail and the divergence on scale sit in the militia digest published beside this one. Shafaq, counting from outside those channels, described nearly four weeks of attacks on the Kurdistan Region.

A senior Iraqi security and intelligence delegation, led by national security adviser al-Shammari, went to Riyadh after the drone attacks and stated that Iraq rejects any violation of its sovereignty, with Shafaq reporting the delegation would raise strikes on Popular Mobilization sites there. The Saudi defense minister called Iraq a 'cherished neighbor' and said Riyadh will always stand with Iraq; Shafaq reported the Saudi embassy may return to Baghdad within three months.

On the economy, TotalEnergies' trading arm Totsa is offering Iraqi crude outside the Strait of Hormuz, traders told Reuters, while Baghdad named Abu Dhabi's ADNOC among the buyers helping keep its oil flowing through the strait. Kirkuk-Ceyhan exports fell to around 130,000 bpd and Basrah Medium posted a $6.73 July loss.

The finance minister said the state must prioritize basic obligations, while workers in Diyala demanded eight months of salary arrears and Asharq al-Awsat reported a crisis looming in southern Iraq over water and electricity as temperatures reached 50°C.

In the north, the Kurdistan Region's minister said Erbil and Baghdad reached a 'final agreement' on a unified digital customs system across Iraq, and an adviser to the prime minister told Rudaw Baghdad-Erbil ties are at their 'highest levels'. Iraqi customs seized 45,000 drug pills smuggled from Syria, and separately dismantled an 'international' drug network in Kirkuk.

Chief Justice Faiq Zidan met Syrian President al-Sharaa in Damascus, where the two sides advanced judicial and legal cooperation in the first such visit reported by Kurdistan24. Baghdad separately said up to 5,000 Iraqi citizens are fighting for Russia or Ukraine.

THINGS TO WATCH

A draft weapons-restriction text filed to cabinet or parliament under al-Zaidi's namemedium likelihoodhigh impactAsharq al-Awsat reported the prime minister is aiming for legislation limiting possession of weapons to the state, and a filed text would show whether the factions' conditions were written in.

Badr states its disarmament conditions in its own voice on Al-Ghadeer TV or the Baa Platformmedium likelihoodmedium impactBoth lines carrying Badr's position today were second-hand — one from a KH-owned channel, one from Kurdistan24 — with no Badr-owned item in the retrieved evidence.

A dated announcement of the Saudi embassy's return to Baghdadlow likelihoodmedium impactShafaq reported the embassy may return within three months, which would convert the Riyadh security talks into a standing diplomatic presence.

The unified digital customs system operating at a named crossingmedium likelihoodmedium impactThe Kurdistan Region's minister called the Erbil-Baghdad agreement final, so implementation should be visible at a specific border point.

Diyala salary arrears paid or a Finance Ministry schedule for themmedium likelihoodmedium impactThe finance minister said the state must prioritize basic obligations on the same day Diyala workers demanded eight months of back pay, which tests what counts as basic.