Thursday, 17 September 2026

Iraq is trucking southern crude north in an effort to raise exports through Turkey. The move follows Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s Berlin proposal to sell Iraqi oil to Europe and expand Mediterranean export routes. Before the war, Iraq exported an average of 3.4 million barrels per day, mostly through the strait. The disruption has already pushed Baghdad into discounted sales: ADNOC agreed to buy 32 million barrels for August and another 40 million for September, with discounts reaching $27 per barrel. Iraq’s export grades fell on Thursday, with Basrah Heavy and Basrah Medium each dropping $8 per barrel to $94.57 and $97.87 respectively. Trucking crude toward Turkey and pursuing European sales are now parallel attempts to reduce Iraq’s dependence on the strait.

Rudaw reported that the Kurdistan Regional Government rejected Baghdad’s census figure and demanded an accurate share of the federal budget. The KRG Council of Ministers separately demanded that Iraq honour a 14.14 percent share. KRG Finance and Economy Minister Awat Sheikh Janab Nouri said sovereign expenditures deducted before shares are calculated now account for more than 40 percent of federal spending. He said the Region benefits from only a small portion of that spending and said it receives no benefit from domestic or foreign federal borrowing. Nouri also said the KRG had received “not a single dinar” in federal investment expenditure since 2013, despite employee-list reviews and biometric registration that he put at 90 percent. Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani called for agreements on oil, salaries and the budget share to be implemented under the constitution. The council has now fixed its demand at 14.14 percent, while Baghdad and Erbil remain without an agreed regional share.

Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada’s Jihad Council categorically denied that the faction had begun inventorying weapons for handover. Security and Defence Committee MP Ali Nuhair (Shibl al-Zaidi bloc) said documents reviewed by his bloc covered heavy weapons, missiles, drones and air-defence systems, with some equipment transferred to PMF warehouses. Zikra al-Radini (KSS — Muntasirun MP) and MP Jasim Atwan al-Musawi repeated the denial on iNEWS (KSS — affiliated) and rejected Nuhair’s authority to speak for the faction. The direct denial hardens KSS’s stated rejection of a handover after spokesman Kadhim al-Fartousi (KSS — spokesman) rejected what he called a government deadline and Falih al-Khazali (KSS — Muntasirun bloc head, MP) endorsed ten conditions on any process. Separately, Shabakat al-Sa'a Media alleged on 16 September that a secret cable described Saudi intent to strike PMF headquarters. About ninety minutes later, the Defence Ministry said the circulated cable was forged and rested on no official ministry document or source. Al-Quds then reduced that statement to an Iraqi denial that Saudi Arabia intended to attack the PMF. The ministry denied the cable’s authenticity, not Saudi intent.

The Federal Commission of Integrity returned Mohammed Ismat Mohammed Saeed from the United Arab Emirates after an international pursuit. The commission identified him as a former Trade Ministry cashier convicted of embezzling more than 1.031 billion dinars, about $784,000, by manipulating receipts and revenue records. Iraqi courts had issued four rulings carrying a combined 55-year prison term and ordered the seizure of his assets. In a separate operation, Interpol Baghdad returned three suspects wanted in corruption, murder and fraud cases. The campaign had already detained at least 210 officials, lawmakers, public employees and business figures, while Iraqis had filed more than 26,000 corruption reports.

Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada’s Jihad Council denied Security and Defence Committee MP Ali Nuhair’s account that the faction had begun inventorying weapons for handover. Nuhair (Shibl al-Zaidi bloc) said documents reviewed by his bloc covered heavy weapons, missiles, drones and air-defence systems, with some equipment transferred to PMF warehouses. The council called that completely and categorically untrue and said he had no authority to speak for the faction. Zikra al-Radini (KSS — Muntasirun MP) and MP Jasim Atwan al-Musawi reinforced both points through iNEWS (KSS — affiliated), rejecting the inventory account and Nuhair’s authority. The direct denial hardens KSS’s stated position after spokesman Kadhim al-Fartousi rejected handing over weapons under what he called a government deadline and Falih al-Khazali endorsed ten conditions on any process.

Shabakat al-Sa'a Media alleged on 16 September that a secret cable described Saudi intent to strike PMF headquarters. About ninety minutes later, Al-Kornet al-Kata'ibi (KSS — affiliated), Sabereen News (KH — affiliated) and Al-Ghadeer TV (Badr Organization — official) carried the Defence Ministry’s denial that it had issued such a cable. The ministry said the circulated document was forged and rested on no official ministry document or source. Al-Quds then shortened that into an Iraqi denial that Saudi Arabia intended to attack the PMF. The ministry rejected the cable’s authenticity, not Saudi intent itself. Al-Kornet separately attributed to unspecified media an allegation that Saudi intelligence was preparing a U.S.-aircraft operation against Mecca and warned that an attack on holy sites could prompt an “exceptional response”. Seven channels also carried Yemeni Armed Forces claims of missile and drone strikes on Aramco in Yanbu and Khamis Mushait Air Base, without stating Iraqi participation. Seven channels separately amplified Yemeni claims that an F-15 and a Wing Loong 2 were downed over Ma’rib, although the imagery did not establish the aircraft types, location or cause.

Shabab al-Islam (Ashab al-Kahf — owned/non-official) relayed Muhammad Jawad Al Ahmed, identified as a member of a Sistani-office delegation, claiming that the office assisted 3,600 Iranian families. He put the assistance at $11 million, comprising $6 million for martyrs’ families and $5 million for Iran’s armed forces and reconstruction after the war that began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran on 28 February. Separately, U.S. Democratic Party member Mahdi Afifi told Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official) that Washington was run by Israel and that Donald Trump had pledged to continue the war against Iran. Al-Ittijah TV (KH — official) said Washington faced political and economic consequences from the war. It also relayed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s calls for regional dialogue and his accusation that the United States and Israel weakened regional states by creating conflicts. These were statements by a delegate, a guest, the channel and the Iranian president, not faction declarations.

Al-Janoub TV (Harakat al-Jihad wal-Bina — official) carried an Iraqi contractor appeal for unpaid government entitlements before advancing the union’s demands. The Iraqi Contractors Union vice president alleged that previous governments owed more than IQD 40 trillion for work that included dangerous areas. Its unidentified president then said the Finance Ministry had been given a deadline and the dues would be paid within ten days. The Finance Ministry has not responded to that deadline. Sabereen separately reported Basra education-contract workers demonstrating in Baghdad for overdue entitlements. Falih al-Khazali (KSS — Muntasirun bloc head, MP) said their salaries would be paid after data checks and that contract and daily-wage workers’ rights, including permanent appointments, were included in the 2027 budget. The draft budget is still awaiting cabinet approval, and its final spending commitments remain unsettled. iNEWS meanwhile put the exchange rate at IQD 159,000 per $100, blamed restricted Central Bank releases and linked the rise to stagnant food sales and a 13% increase in construction-material prices.

Al-Nujaba TV (Nujaba — official), Al-Ghadeer and Al-Ittijah reported a joint PMF mission to inspect and secure Kashaf village. The Badr and KH outlets placed the village in Nineveh, while Al-Nujaba TV did not give a province. Al-Nujaba TV later reported another joint PMF mission sweeping wooded and agricultural areas west of Kirkuk. In Salah al-Din, Watan TV (Badr Organization — affiliated), Unit 10,000 (KH — affiliated) and Al-Ittijah reported that the PMF Sixth Brigade neutralised explosive devices, rockets and bombs left by ISIS. Footage showed personnel handling munitions and a controlled detonation, but did not establish the location or unit identity. No PMF or Iraqi security statement named the formations involved in the joint missions, and no PMF statement gave a site or quantities for the Salah al-Din clearance.