Iraq News Wire

Johannesburg – South Africa’s economy shrank in the second quarter of 2026, snapping a nearly two-year growth streak as the war in Iran weighed on domestic demand, the national statistics agency said Tuesday. The contraction comes less than two months before local government elections, putting the country’s sluggish economy squarely in the political crosshairs.  Gross domestic product fell 0.2 percent from the previous quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis, StatsSA said. Minin

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) — Iraq is pushing forward with a vital oil pipeline project with US energy company Chevron, TI Capital, and Qatar’s UCC, which would link Basra to Fishkhabur and branch west toward Syria’s Mediterranean port of Baniyas, Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair said Tuesday. Khudair said at the start of the fourth Iraq Oil and Gas Projects and Licensing Rounds Exhibition that the project is critical to Baghdad’s efforts to diversify export routes and provi

London – Turkish Airlines will become Liverpool’s new front-of-shirt sponsor from the start of the 2027/28 season, the Premier League giants announced on Tuesday. No fee was disclosed by the club, but the BBC reported that the five-year deal was worth £300 million ($406 million) in total. A contract worth more than £60 million a season, would represent an increase on the current £50 million-per-season deal with retail bank Standard Chartered, who have been the Reds’ front-of-sh

Kfar Rumman – Hundreds of people in south Lebanon gathered on Tuesday to mourn two Hezbollah members and their family, among them a three-month-old infant, killed by an Israeli strike a day prior. The two brothers’ coffins, draped in the Iran-backed group’s yellow flag, portraits of them in camouflage fatigues fixed to the front, led the procession through the village battered by repeated conflict over nearly three years. Another 10 coffins were covered in Lebanese flags, indic

Basra (IraqiNews.com) — Dozens of technical, engineering, and administrative personnel operating at the giant West Qurna-2 oilfield in Basra Governorate demonstrated on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, demanding the regularization of their contractual status and the disbursement of overdue wages and entitlements, warning of a general strike if their demands are not addressed within one week. Speaking a local news agency, protest representative Mashreq Abdul-Moneim declared that Basra Oil Company (

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) — Demonstrations organized by long-term university graduates, top-ranking achievers, and higher degree holders turned violent outside the Ministry of Finance in central Baghdad on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, marking the second straight day of confrontations over central public appointments in the draft 2027 federal budget. Riot police and law enforcement units deployed batons, electric stun devices, tear gas canisters, and rubber rounds to repel hundreds of protestors

Baghdad — Drivers formed long lines outside fuel stations in Baghdad on Saturday as gasoline supplies dropped in oil-rich Iraq due to import disruptions caused by the Middle East war. Despite being OPEC’s second largest oil producer, Iraq imports oil derivatives because its refineries do not produce enough gasoline to meet domestic demand. In recent weeks, as regional hostilities drag on, long queues have been reappearing every few days, mostly outside government-run fuel stations in

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) — The Iraqi Ministry of Transport ruled out any imminent closure of national airspace amid regional security tensions, announcing the successful activation of alternative air transit corridors alongside the launch of nine new international flight destinations connecting Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Basra to regional and global hubs. Speaking to the official state newspaper reported on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, the Director General of the General Company for Airport Managemen

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) — Parallel market exchange rates for the U.S. dollar against the Iraqi Dinar (IQD) extended their upward momentum across primary wholesale bourses and trading centers on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, according to exchange data. Retail selling prices in the capital, Baghdad, reached 156,000 IQD per $100 USD, matching peak retail quotes seen in earlier sessions. Basra followed closely with selling rates touching 155,750 IQD per $100 USD, while Erbil consolidated at 155,500

Barranquilla – United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Colombia on Tuesday, the first stop on a Latin American tour designed to bolster pro-US leaders and cement influence over the continent. The recent election of Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, a hard-right lawyer, has been a game-changer for Washington, which had combative relations with left-wing former president Gustavo Petro.  De la Espriella, a flamboyant 48-year-old millionaire, was elected in June on

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) — The Federal Commission of Integrity and specialized judicial oversight bodies have launched a comprehensive financial audit and investigative probe into liquidity depletion, high-value commercial loans, and discretionary financing waivers across Iraq’s state-owned banking sector on Saturday, September 5, 2026. The investigation centers on operational practices at Rafidain Bank and Rasheed Bank—the country’s two dominant state lenders—examining major credit facilities

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) — Parallel market exchange rates for the U.S. dollar against the Iraqi Dinar (IQD) opened the trading week with steady pricing across major wholesale bourses in Baghdad, Erbil, and Basra on Saturday, September 5, 2026, according to monitoring data. Retail selling rates in Baghdad and Basra held firm at 154,750 IQD per $100 USD, matching levels recorded earlier in the week, while Erbil logged a modest uptick to 154,000 IQD per $100 USD. All parallel market bourses conti

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) — The Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture announced on Friday, September 4, 2026, that Iraq has achieved full self-sufficiency in its strategic wheat harvest for the third consecutive season, while also securing complete domestic self-sufficiency in date production. Ministry Spokesperson Qusay Al-Hattab stated that targeted state interventions—combining climate-resilient crop genetics, subsidized modern sprinkler systems, and a data-backed agricultural calendar—have decouple

Basra (IraqiNews.com) — Iraq’s flagship export grades, Basra Heavy and Basra Medium, logged substantial double-digit weekly gains, even as both contracts retreated by 80 cents per barrel in their final trading sessions alongside wider pullbacks across international crude benchmarks. The weekly rally reflects heightened geopolitical risk premiums and localized shipping disruptions in Middle Eastern maritime transit corridors, which tightened regional sour crude supplies despite late-week profi

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq has officially concluded the interrogation process for 5,704 ISIS detainees who were moved from northeastern Syria earlier this year, preparing them for trial. The First Karkh Investigation Court said in a statement on Tuesday that it concluded the investigation phase of one of Iraq’s largest terrorism-related cases in history. The verified detainees originate from 67 different nationalities, including 3,497 Syrians and 4

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The exchange rate for the US dollar against the Iraqi dinar rose on Thursday in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, and remained stable in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.  The US dollar exchange rate rose in Baghdad’s al-Kifah and al-Harithiya stock exchanges, reaching 1,547.5 Iraqi dinars compared to 1,546.5 Iraqi dinars on Thursday morning. The exchange rate in currency exchange shops in Baghdad rose, ranging between 1,552.5 Iraqi dinars and 1,5

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The spokesperson for the Iraqi Oil Ministry, Salim al-Rikabi, told Attaqa News that Iraq began exporting fuel oil shipments via Jordan for the first time last month. Al-Rikabi explained that Iraq is exporting fuel oil through the neighboring country, not to Jordan. The Iraqi official did not disclose the details of the agreement, its duration, or when it came into effect. Iraqi oil shipments started flowing to Jordan in early August through the Trebil border cr

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced on Thursday that it permanently dismissed 38 officers and 180 personnel over administrative and financial corruption, with another 3,245 personnel discharged for desertion. The purge represents a significant internal effort as part of the ongoing “Operation Dawn,” a nationwide anti-corruption campaign spearheaded by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government. The campaign has targeted numerous public officials and high-profile i

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi Finance Minister Faleh Sari met with a delegation from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) led by Konstantin Limitovskiy on Wednesday to discuss funding infrastructure and development projects in Iraq. During their meeting in Baghdad, the AIIB delegation reviewed its global and regional portfolios to outline how its framework will apply to Iraq across the transportation, energy, water, and digital infrastructure sectors, according to a statement cit

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraq has launched a comprehensive plan to recover over 100,000 artifacts that were unearthed through illegal excavation and smuggled out of the country. The Iraqi Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities announced a broad endeavor to recover the country’s stolen Mesopotamian heritage using a combination of cultural diplomacy, security surveillance, and strong legal action. The ministry’s undersecretary, Qasim al-Sudani, told the Iraqi News Agency