Friday, 18 September 2026

Iraq formally returned restricted military and security air zones to civilian aviation use. Ihab Saad Kareem, director of the General Company for Airport Management and Air Navigation, said the transfer was completed with the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Authorities are updating aeronautical data before notifying international airlines. Restrictions in the affected areas began in 2016 and 2017 during security operations. Kareem said reopening them would allow new routes and could increase revenue from foreign airlines crossing Iraq. The domestic decision does not change a European Union Aviation Safety Agency advisory for operators under its oversight to avoid the Baghdad Flight Information Region because of regional conflict risks.

Press reports placed Kataib Hezbollah, Nujaba, Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Ansar Allah al-Awfiya and al-Badala together in rejecting the surrender of drones and long-range missiles. The reports did not quote the five factions directly, while Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada directly denied that it had inventoried or transferred heavy weapons. Accounts diverged over whether 30 September is a surrender deadline, the start of regulation or a point preceding gradual implementation in October. RojNews said stalled talks could lead Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to close faction headquarters after the date, while another account said the government would announce the plan’s principles in early October. Prime minister’s security adviser Qasim al-Araji said Saudi Arabia supplied flight data for the 11 September drone attack on East–West Pipeline facilities, which Riyadh attributed to Iraqi factions, and that Iraqi intelligence and technical surveillance independently found launch platforms. He said the findings would be withheld until suspects could be arrested and put interrupted Saudi pumping at 5 million barrels. His account conflicts with Ufuq Center head Jumaa al-Atwani’s statement on Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official) that the government had confirmed Saudi Arabia possessed no evidence of an Iraq-launched attack. The amended PMF law meanwhile still awaits government transmission, leaving the cabinet with the next procedural move and parliament without an agenda date.

Government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi said Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi will address the UN General Assembly and meet President Donald Trump in New York next week. The assembly’s high-level debate runs from 22 to 28 September. Al-Aboudi said the prime minister would also meet the US Chamber of Commerce to discuss economic and trade ties. The visit falls in the final week before the US-led coalition’s mission in Iraq is scheduled to end on 30 September, which the spokesperson described as a shift toward long-term economic cooperation. Iraq and France have already agreed to continue military cooperation after that date, although the terms remain to be agreed. Separately, President Masoud Barzani and France’s new consul general in Erbil, Emmanuel Mignot, discussed the coalition’s departure and Erbil-Baghdad relations.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said the Region’s share of the 2027 federal budget must not fall below 14.14 percent. The KRG Council of Ministers had already fixed the same demand, while Baghdad and Erbil remained without an agreed percentage. The Kurdistan Region also requested welfare and disability benefit allocations in the 2027 Iraqi budget. President Nechirvan Barzani separately called for permanent solutions to Erbil-Baghdad disputes. Separate reporting has put the expected arrival of the 2027 budget bill in parliament on 15 October, so the Region’s stated floor now precedes the formal federal budget stage.

Militia channels carried press reports placing Kataib Hezbollah, Nujaba, Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Ansar Allah al-Awfiya and al-Badala together in rejecting the surrender of drones and long-range missiles, although the reports did not quote the factions directly. The central dispute is 30 September: Al-Araby al-Jadeed described it as Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s deadline for surrendering weapons, while Alhurra described it as the start of regulation. A third account said the government would announce the plan’s principles in early October and implement them gradually. RojNews reported that stalled talks could lead al-Zaidi to close faction headquarters after the deadline. The five-faction alignment remains a press account, while Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada’s categorical denial of an inventory or transfer is direct. Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official) captions described state control of weapons as consolidating centralization and 30 September as a sovereignty milestone. Legal expert Abbas al-Aqabi told the channel that the government would legally treat the weapons as illegitimate after that date and that regulation required legislation beforehand. Ufuq Center head Jumaa al-Atwani had told the same channel that linking withdrawal to weapons regulation was wrong and that the Coordination Framework lacked consensus, leaving the competing positions as guest arguments rather than an AAH declaration.

Late on 17 September, Sabereen News (KH — affiliated) reported an explosion in Sulaymaniyah and six minutes later said drones were heading toward targets in Sulaymaniyah. Al-Ghadeer TV (Badr Organization — official), Shabab al-Islam (Ashab al-Kahf — affiliated), Unit 10,000 (KH — affiliated) and Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official) also reported explosions there in the same hour. Earlier, Sabereen reported American warplanes over Erbil and an explosion in the Masif area, while Shabab al-Islam reported an explosion on Erbil’s outskirts. The overnight accounts follow five reported impacts around Sulaymaniyah reported in the desk's 14 September edition.

Prime Minister's security adviser Qasim al-Araji said Saudi Arabia supplied Iraq with timing, launch and impact coordinates and flight paths for the 11 September drone attack on East–West Pipeline facilities, which Riyadh attributed to Iraqi factions. He said Iraqi intelligence and technical surveillance independently led investigators to launch platforms. Al-Araji said the findings were being withheld until suspects could be arrested and put the interrupted pumping at 5 million barrels. His account conflicts with Jumaa al-Atwani’s statement on Al-Ahad TV that the government had confirmed Saudi Arabia possessed no evidence of an Iraq-launched attack. Naram-Sin Center director Haidar al-Barzanji, speaking on the same channel, said a political leader had told him that the first attack on Saudi Arabia was launched from Iraq. Separately, the Defence Ministry said a circulated cable alleging Saudi preparations to strike PMF headquarters was not an official document and was baseless. The ministry’s denial concerned the cable rather than the pipeline investigation.

Parliamentary Security and Defence Committee member Iskandar Witwit said the amended PMF law still awaits government transmission before the committee can place it on parliament’s agenda. He said the committee had revised every paragraph and that Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi had promised to send the bill soon for review, first reading and a vote. Witwit described the revised measure as modelled on the Defence Ministry because it would govern an integrated security institution. Al-Masalla reported that the proposal would give the PMF comparable structure, powers and budget and could raise its chairman to ministerial rank without creating a ministry. Those provisions remain a press description of the proposal, not enacted law. Despite Al-Ittijah TV’s earlier report that the measure would reach parliament by the end of September, the government still holds the next procedural move and no agenda date has been set.