Monday, 2 November 2026

Separately, Environment Minister Sarwa Abdulwahid said Monday that Iraq would take legal action against international oil companies operating in Basra over pollution linked to their activities. Speaking alongside Governor Asaad al-Eidani, she said the ministry had found “very serious negative indicators” and demanded the environmental standards companies apply in their home countries. She announced strict measures starting Monday and planned visits to Basra Oil Company and an oil field to investigate environmental conditions. Iraq aims to achieve zero pollution, but Abdulwahid said efforts to curb it remained at an early stage. Some hospitals had installed biological treatment units, while solid-waste management still needed improvement. She said wastewater problems persisted, particularly around the Zaytouna River, despite completion of some treatment plants.

On household fuel supplies, al-Zaidi on Sunday ordered release of the Kurdistan Region’s subsidized winter kerosene allocation. Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair al-Abadi instructed the Oil Products Distribution Company to accelerate the supply procedures. The ministry has not specified the quantity, delivery date or subsidized household price. The New Region reported that a ministry said Baghdad’s kerosene supply covers 18% of the Region’s needs. The order came a day after the company opened the winter’s first federal allocation in Baghdad and central and southern governorates, allowing families to buy 100 liters each with an electronic fuel card. Parliament had called on 21 September for the government to secure kerosene for the Region and review supplies and extra allocations before winter. The Oil Ministry said Thursday that strategic kerosene and cooking-gas reserves would cover winter demand, without specifying their size.

Huquq bloc leader Saud al-Saadi (KH) said on Monday that a Coordination Framework committee had agreed with armed factions on regulating their weapons, but Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi had not signed the agreement. He said a joint committee comprising the government, factions, PMF and Framework would oversee it. He attributed the delay to fear of American pressure. An unnamed Framework source told Kurdistan24 that no draft agreement existed. Kurdistan24 also attributed to the government an allegation that factions demanded senior executive posts in exchange for surrendering weapons and entering political work. On Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official), political researcher Imad al-Musafir had denied on Sunday that factions negotiated over government posts.

Al-Saadi also rejected the current PMF bill on Monday, in comments relayed by Shabab al-Islam (Ashab al-Kahf — owned). He attributed the government's withdrawal of the bill to US wishes. He argued that the text differed from the PMF Authority's original and would empty the institution of its substance through integration into traditional state institutions. By contrast, Badr Organization secretary-general Hadi al-Amiri and PMF chairman Faleh al-Fayyad called for prompt completion of the legislative procedures at their Baghdad meeting on Sunday. MP Ahmad Kayin al-Khazali (AAH — Sadiqoun) said on Monday that additional parliamentary signatures had been collected to press the government to submit the bill. He had asked the prime minister to send it for a vote on Sunday, while saying he did not know why the government had withdrawn it.

Separately, Ansar Allah al-Awfiya warned that US use of Iraqi territory or airspace to attack Iran would receive a response, according to Tasnim's Sunday report. i24NEWS dated the warning to Friday and said the faction's leadership would determine the response's nature according to developments. An Erem News account relayed by Daily Beirut on Sunday alleged that Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf had visited Baghdad with three senior Revolutionary Guard military officials. Unnamed Iraqi sources close to senior security officials told Erem News that the delegation met Iraqi faction leaders to arrange military support for Iran if Washington attacked. On Al-Ahad, al-Musafir said factions would not stand idle if the United States or Israel attacked Iraq. Political researcher Ramadan al-Badran warned that factional participation in an Iran–US war would affect Baghdad–Washington relations.

In Maysan, truck drivers renewed demonstrations on Monday for Shib's reopening, iNEWS (KSS — affiliated) reported, after Baghdad closed the crossing with Iran on 20 October. Sabereen News (KH — affiliated) carried protesters' banners demanding immediate reopening and opposing the loss of their livelihoods. The banners also called for lifting a siege on Maysan. Companies' sit-in representative Salah al-Saadi, speaking on Al-Ahad on Sunday, said the closure had harmed 4,000 Maysan drivers as well as goods-transport workers at the crossing.