Monday, 12 October 2026

Kataib Hezbollah urged Yemeni fighters to continue attacks on Saudi Arabia after Saturday’s Houthi attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. It dismissed Iraqi condemnations as unrepresentative of Iraqis. Baghdad had condemned the attack on Sunday and called for military operations to stop. KH’s statement endorses Yemeni attacks rather than announcing an operation of its own. Separately, Saud al-Saadi (KH — Hoquq MP) said his bloc had filed a Federal Supreme Court challenge to Decision 544, the cabinet’s Tuesday increase in the public dollar-selling rate to 1,520 dinars per dollar. Hoquq also denied any contact with al-Zaidi, citing his unilateral decision-making.

Government spokesperson Haider Aboudi said Baghdad had asked Iran to allow Iraqi oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz but had received no response. He attributed nearly 36 trillion dinars in treasury losses to the previous government’s 2023 decision to strengthen the dinar. On spending, Qusay Abbas (Badr — MP) backed deducting 100,000 dinars monthly from public employees earning at least 2 million dinars. Abbas said the draft budget had not reached parliament, despite its previously scheduled arrival on 10 October.

In Mosul, al-Zaidi launched implementation work on a national initiative to distribute one million residential plots across Iraq. Nineveh’s allocation includes 110,000 serviced plots. Eligible groups include families of people killed in service, wounded individuals and public-sector employees. Al-Zaidi also said the government had formally invited international airport-management companies to invest in Mosul International Airport. He said it wanted partners to develop services, not merely build a passenger terminal. Before his arrival, fuel queues disappeared after more than a month of shortages. Sources in Nineveh said the distribution branch had prepared for the visit by opening four major stations around the clock.

Separately, Australia confirmed on Monday that engineer Robert Pether had left Iraq, five years after his arrest. He was jailed on fraud charges in 2021 amid a contract dispute between his employer and the Central Bank of Iraq. The UN said his detention was illegal. Pether had been conditionally released in 2025 but remained barred from leaving Iraq. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the outcome followed years of advocacy by Australian and Irish authorities. His wife Desree said he was still in transit.

Kataib Hezbollah urged Yemeni fighters to continue attacks on Saudi Arabia in a statement carried overnight by Sabereen News (KH — affiliated). It demanded that Saudi Arabia lift the blockade on Yemen. The faction also declared that Iraq’s people and Islamic Resistance stood alongside Yemenis. It dismissed Iraqi condemnations of Saturday’s strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh as unrepresentative of Iraqis. Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority put the toll at 12 killed and 309 wounded. Baghdad had condemned the attack on Sunday and called for military operations to stop. On Monday, Sabereen and Unit 10,000 (KH — affiliated) paired Saudi energy-security remarks with KH security official and spokesman Abu Ali al-Askari’s warning that prosperity must be shared or everyone would face deprivation. KH’s statement endorses Yemeni attacks rather than announcing an operation of its own.

Separately, Saud al-Saadi (KH — Hoquq MP) said the bloc had filed a Federal Supreme Court challenge to Decision 544, following the cabinet’s Tuesday increase in the public dollar-selling rate to 1,520 dinars. He argued that the decision violated the constitution and burdened citizens. Al-Ittijah TV (KH — official) also criticized the budgetary cost of four deputy prime ministers. Watan TV (Badr Organization — affiliated) carried al-Saadi’s objection alongside State of Law Coalition head Nouri al-Maliki’s conditional support for the exchange-rate adjustment. Al-Maliki said its success depended on protecting incomes and limiting market repercussions. Economist Abdul Rahman al-Sheikhli, speaking on Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official), said the decision had not been properly studied and called for stronger action against speculators. On spending cuts, Qusay Abbas (Badr — MP) backed deducting 100,000 dinars monthly from public employees earning at least 2 million dinars.

Hoquq also denied any contact with Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi because of his unilateral decision-making, according to Al-Nujaba TV (Nujaba — official). Muhammad al-Hassnawi (KH — Hoquq MP) criticized the cancellation of al-Zaidi’s parliamentary session and said it should have been public. He held al-Halbousi responsible for the cancellation. On Al-Ahad TV, prime ministerial adviser Abd al-Amir al-Tayban alleged that al-Zaidi had received threats to kill him. Al-Tayban said ten Coordination Framework parties supported al-Zaidi, but not all Framework forces did. Political-affairs researcher Haydar al-Mousawi gave a different account, saying all Framework forces supported him.

Al-Tayban also said al-Zaidi would visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. Muhammad al-Yasiri, head of the Building Center for Studies, said the Gulf discussions would cover new and previous oil-export outlets and investment funds in Saudi Arabia. Al-Mousawi offered support for the visit if it proved positive. Ahead of the trip, the Foreign Ministry ordered Ambassador Ahmed Nayef Rashid al-Dulaimi’s transfer to Riyadh to replace Safia al-Suhail. Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair and Electricity Minister Ali Saadi Wahib arrived in Riyadh on Sunday to prepare discussions for the prime minister’s visit.