Wednesday, 9 September 2026

Prime Minister’s security affairs adviser Qasim al-Araji said the government would protect factions from attack while continuing talks to place them under state authority. He called the PMF an independent Iraqi force and said its service-and-retirement bill would go to parliament. Commander-in-chief spokesman Sabah al-Numan said the coalition mission would end on September 30 and remove the justification for weapons outside state institutions. Kadhim al-Fartousi (KSS — spokesman) instead said surrender would not be considered until Iraq received guarantees covering its territory, airspace, political decisions and economic independence. The dispute is what September 30 settles: Baghdad says withdrawal closes the weapons argument, while KSS says broader sovereignty guarantees must come first. AP, citing two Saudi sources and a senior Iraqi security official, reported that Houthi emissaries helped Iraqi militias plan and execute a two-day July swarm attack on Saudi oil infrastructure allegedly launched from Iraqi territory. PMF officials denied Houthi involvement.

A Kurdistan Regional Government delegation went to Baghdad to secure the Region’s budget and constitutional entitlements. The visit follows earlier negotiations in which the KRG sought a 14% share of the 2027 federal budget. Separately, a Kurdistan Region Electricity Ministry source told Kurdistan24 that Mass and Qaiwan had cut their supply to the Region by 500 megawatts while continuing to send 1,000 megawatts to federal Iraq. The source put Baghdad’s direct payments to the companies at approximately $70 million per month, which it said was equivalent to more than 100 percent of their monthly financial entitlements. It also said the companies continued to seek additional payments from the KRG as electricity hours fell across the Region. The federal-KRG talks therefore coincide with a separate payment dispute that an unnamed ministry source says is reducing the Region’s electricity supply.

Iraqi Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi and Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş reaffirmed full support for steps to accelerate the Development Road. Their Ankara talks also covered oil, water, energy, security and counterterrorism. IranOilGas Network, citing the State Organization for Marketing of Oil, separately reported that Iraq and Turkiye had agreed to include a joint Ceyhan refinery in a broader energy agreement expected next year. The planned refinery would process Iraqi crude at the Turkish port for export to Europe as refined products. The negotiations follow the August 1 agreement setting a minimum export volume of 750,000 barrels per day through the Iraq-Turkiye pipeline. Northern exports were running at about 220,000 barrels per day on Monday, leaving current throughput well below that minimum as the two governments promote new transport and refining projects.

Iraq’s committee for monitoring sectarian, ethnic and racial rhetoric held its first meeting. General Abdul-Amir al-Shammari, director of the commander-in-chief’s office, said security authorities would act against incitement regardless of who promoted it, with the judiciary deciding legal measures and rulings. Committee chairman Lt. Gen. Saad Maan said it would monitor sectarian, ethnic and racial incitement under existing legal frameworks. The meeting advances the interagency committee reported on September 3. Separately, the Iraqi National Security Service launched “Distinguish the Fake”, an artificial-intelligence platform intended to identify misleading digital content. INSS spokesperson Arshad al-Hakim said users could check fabricated images, doctored videos and dubbed audio. The state has now paired a legal monitoring body with a public verification tool.

Watan TV (Badr Organization — affiliated) quoted Prime Minister’s security affairs adviser Qasim al-Araji saying the government would protect factions from attack while continuing dialogue to place them under state authority. He called the PMF an independent Iraqi force and said its service-and-retirement bill would go to parliament. Commander-in-chief spokesman Sabah al-Numan said the coalition mission would end on September 30 and its departure would remove the justification for weapons outside state institutions. Kadhim al-Fartousi (KSS — spokesman) said surrender would not be considered until Iraq’s territory, airspace, political decisions and economic independence were protected. Ahmad al-Musawi (AAH — Sadiqoun MP) told Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official) that state weapons control must cover all Iraqi territory, including the Kurdistan Region. The disagreement is what September 30 settles: Baghdad says withdrawal closes the weapons argument, while KSS says broader sovereignty guarantees must come first.

Sabereen News (KH — affiliated) taunted Aramco while covering the strikes in southwestern Saudi Arabia, which Watan TV attributed to Yemeni forces and CNN to the Houthis. Sabereen reported sirens and explosions in Khamis Mushait while awaiting a Yemeni Armed Forces statement; Watan reported explosions at Aramco facilities and hits at King Khalid Air Base. Separately, AP reported that regional officials said Houthi emissaries helped Iraqi militias plan and execute a two-day swarm attack on Saudi Arabia in July. AP also said Saudi Arabia and the United States later bombed Iraqi militias after blaming them for drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities that the Houthis had claimed. A separate account said PMF officials denied Houthi involvement. Since September 1, 13 of 33 watched channels across six networks have surged on Yemen (ref:move:yemen:2026-09-01).

Shafaq News, citing unnamed Coordination Framework sources, reported that its September 7 meeting saw friction between Qais al-Khazali (AAH — secretary-general) and State of Law leader Nouri al-Maliki over proposed deputy-prime-minister posts. Sakr al-Amshani (AAH — Sadiqoun MP) later told Al-Ahad that the bloc sought no more than its share of government representation and rejected interference with that entitlement. Political analyst Salam Adel said on the same channel that Sadiqoun’s seat count gave it strong cabinet prospects, but that was his assessment rather than a bloc announcement. Sadiqoun MP Salem al-Absawi had previously said the Framework agreed the posts, while a State of Law member said they had not entered its agenda. The reported clash remains a single-source account, but Sadiqoun has now publicly defended its cabinet claim.

Al-Ahad carried legal affairs researcher Majid Mujbas and political affairs researcher Hakim al-Muhammadawi demanding that PMF chairman Faleh al-Fayyad appear before parliament. Mujbas called Fayyad’s failure to attend a violation against parliament, while al-Muhammadawi said continued absence could lead to questioning and dismissal. Mujbas also said suspending the PMF law because of one person was shameful. These were the researchers’ positions, not an AAH statement, and followed earlier Sadiqoun accusations that Fayyad failed to warn PMF units before an attack. Fayyad has not answered.

Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said at a September 8 press conference with Iraqi Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi that the PKK would begin surrendering weapons to Baghdad in October. He also said preparations were under way for armed groups and militias in Iraq to hand weapons to the central government. Mawazine News instead rendered the remarks as an agreement on disarming factions, and the two accounts differ over whether his immediate subject was the PKK process or Iraqi armed groups. Separately, The New Region, citing Iraqi security officials, reported that the PMF was preparing to absorb hundreds of PKK members excluded from Turkey’s process. It said 230 senior PKK commanders and around 2,000 fighters were expected to remain outside that process; the prospective PMF absorption remains an unnamed-source report rather than a PMF announcement.