The Iraq syndrome
IT has been common knowledge for more than 20 years that almost immediately after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the George W. Bush administration was desperately keen to deploy that atrocious…
Iraq tightens grip on autonomous Kurdish region
Iraq is using a period of relative stability to assert more control over the oil-rich autonomous Kurdistan region that has long had fraught relations with federal authorities, analysts and politicians…
Iraq’s Saddam still revered in Jordan
Twenty years after the fall of his regime, the late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein remains admired and popular in Jordan where his image can still be seen across the country.…
Iraq’s ambition to match Saudi oil output is out of reach
Iraq’s oil output and capacity may peak following growth of around 25% over the next five years, analysts said, falling short of 2027 targets and ending a long-standing ambition to…
Iraqi PM walks diplomatic tightrope in crackdown on dollars smuggled to Iran
Under pressure from Washington to stem the flow of dollars into Iran, Iraq’s prime minister sent elite counter-terrorism forces more accustomed to battling Islamist militants to shut down dealers smuggling…
Iraq’s currency in flux as foreign transfers come under scrutiny
Iraq’s local currency has been on a two-month rollercoaster ride following a tightening of procedures for international transfers, with some blaming Washington for the dinar’s woes. While the official exchange…
In drought-hit Iraq, a dam threatens to swallow farmland
Jamil al-Juburi, 53, has never left his village in northern Iraq, where his family has worked the land for generations — but a dam will soon swallow his home, forcing…
Political paralysis in Iraq hampers economic growth
A year since Iraq’s last elections, it remains without not only a new government but a budget too, obstructing much-needed reforms and infrastructure projects in the oil-rich but war-ravaged country.…
Attacks on major Iraqi gasfield drive out US contractors
A series of rocket attacks on a gasfield in northern Iraq has sent the US contractors working on its expansion packing, dealing a blow to the Kurdish region’s hopes of…
Iraq’s $27bn TotalEnergies deal stuck over contract wrangling
A $27-billion deal between France’s TotalEnergies and Iraq, that Baghdad hoped would reverse the exit of oil majors from the country, has stalled amid disputes over terms and risks being…
