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☆ Close US partners in the Middle East demand air defenses after Iranian drone attacks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The US Congress has already asked DoD to develop a plan to equip the Peshmerga with air defenses. Iraqi Kurdistan expects the US to appreciate such stances and provide air defenses, given the high stakes for the autonomous region. Ceng Sagnic, chief of analysis of the geopolitical consultancy firm TAM-C Solutions, said “several considerations” are involved in supplying the Peshmerga air defenses. Turkey may not object to an American air defense provision to Iraqi Kurdistan under certain conditions. Advertisement“Using recent clashes as a reason to request additional US air defenses is likely to be viewed negatively in Ankara,” Ali Bakir, a Turkey expert and non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East program, told BI.

Persons: —, America’s, Masrour Barzani, ” Mohammed Salih, ” Salih, Ceng Sagnic, ” Sagnic, Mazlum Kobane, ” Ali Bakir Organizations: DoD, Service, Kurdistan’s, NBC News, Foreign Policy Research Institute, TAM, C, ISIS, ”, Kurdistan Democratic Party, Patriotic Union of, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, Reuters, US Locations: Kurdish, Syria, Turkey, Iraq’s Iran, United States, Iraqi Kurdistan, Jordan, Iran, Iraqi, Erbil, Jan, Washington, Iraq, American, Baghdad, Ankara, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Kurdistan

☆ US Personnel Suffer Minor Injuries in Iraq Base Attack: U.S. Official
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. personnel suffered minor injuries and a member of Iraq's security forces was seriously wounded in an attack on Iraq's Ain al-Asad air base on Saturday, a U.S. official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said initial reports indicated that the base was hit by ballistic missiles but he left open the possibility it was struck by rockets. Two security sources in Iraq and one government source said the base was hit by multiple rockets fired from inside Iraq. A second U.S. official said the attack was carried out by militants from inside Iraq. Iraq is deeply concerned about becoming a battleground between the United States, Israel and Iran.

Persons: Asad, Mohammed Shia, Phil Stewart, Timour, Alistair Bell Organizations: U.S, Hamas, U.S ., Iraq's, Pentagon, Monday Locations: WASHINGTON, BAGHDAD, Ain, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Iran, United States, U.S, State, Baghdad, Erbil, Iraq's, Kurdistan, Iraqi, Washington

☆ Netherlands Summons Iran Ambassador Over Child Killed in Iraq Attack - Foreign Minister
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch government on Friday summoned the Iranian ambassador to the Netherlands following the death of a Dutch baby in an attack by Iran on Erbil, Iraq. The attack killed at least four people, including a prominent Kurdish businessman and his infant child. A Dutch child of less than one year old had died in attacks by Iran on Erbil, Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot said in a statement. She added she had asked her Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, for clarification and had summoned the Iranian ambassador. (Reporting by Bart Meijer and Charlotte Van Campenhout, additional reporting by Dubai newsroom; editing by Christina Fincher and Philippa Fletcher)

Persons: Hossein Amirabdollahian, Amirabdollahian, Bart Meijer, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Christina Fincher, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Monday, Bruins, Dubai Locations: AMSTERDAM, Iranian, Netherlands, Iran, Erbil, Iraq, Iraq's, Kurdistan, Iraqi, Kurdish, Dutch, Gaza

☆ Iraqi, Saudi Ministers Discuss Iranian Attack on Kurdistan
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Iraqi and Saudi foreign ministers discussed in a phone call on Wednesday the latest regional and international developments, led by the Iranian attack on Iraq's Kurdistan region, the Iraqi foreign ministry said in a statement. Iran late on Monday struck Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, with ballistic missiles in what it said was an attack on an Israeli spy headquarters -- claims vehemently denied by Iraqi and Iraqi Kurdish officials. The Iranian attacks have caused a rare diplomatic dispute between the two neighbouring allies. (Reporting by Timour Azhari, Writing by Muhammad Al Gebaly Editing by Sandra Maler)

Persons: Timour Azhari, Muhammad Al Gebaly, Sandra Maler Organizations: Monday Locations: BAGHDAD, Iraqi, Saudi, Kurdistan, Iran, Erbil, Iraq's

☆ Iraqi Kurdish PM Cancels Meeting With Iran Minister in Protest Over Attack - Source
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani cancelled a meeting with Iran's foreign minister at the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland in protest over Iranian missile strikes on the Iraqi Kurdish city of Erbil, a source said on Wednesday. Iran late on Monday struck Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, with ballistic missiles in what it said was an attack on an Israeli spy headquarters, claims vehemently denied by Iraqi and Iraqi Kurdish officials. The attack killed at least four people, including a prominent Kurdish businessman and his infant child. The Iranian strikes have led to a rare diplomatic row with Iraq's government, with Baghdad filing a complaint against Iranian "aggression" at the United Nations Security Council and recalling its ambassador to Tehran. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, a Shi'ite, was brought to power with the backing of some pro-Iranian factions, but has been keen to show his government opposes any infringement on Iraq's sovereignty.

Persons: Masrour Barzani, Saddam Hussein, Mohammed Shia, Maha El, Timour Azhari, Andrew Heavens, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Iranian, Monday, United Nations Security Council, . Locations: BAGHDAD, Kurdish, Davos, Switzerland, Iraqi Kurdish, Erbil, Iran, Iraq's, Kurdistan, Iraqi, Baghdad, Tehran, Iraq, U.S, . Iraqi

☆ 'Unprovoked violation': Iran strikes Syria, Iraq and Pakistan as Middle East tensions spike
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Speaking to CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday night, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian defended his country's actions. watch nowTehran also hit what it said were Islamic State targets in northern Syria in tandem with its strikes on Iraq. In response to the Red Sea attacks, the U.S. and U.K. governments last week began launching missile strikes against Houthi positions in Yemen. While the U.S. has hit Iranian proxies in Syria and Iraq since the Gaza war began, the missile strikes marked the first U.S. attack on the Yemeni group. Iran's foreign minister told CNBC on Tuesday that the Houthis "are not receiving any orders or instructions from us."

Persons: Pakistan —, Masrour Barzani, Hossein Amirabdollahian, Ebrahim Raisi, Israel —, Umar Karim, Iran — Organizations: United Arab Emirates, . Security, CNBC, Economic, Iranian, Islamic, Sepah, Anadolu Agency, Getty, King Faisal Center for Research, Islamic Studies, Middle, Iran Yemen's Locations: DUBAI, United Arab, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Israel, Gaza, Baghdad, Kurdistan, Tehran, Israeli, U.S, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdish, Davos, Islamic State, Balochistan, Israel — Tehran, Lebanon, Hamas, Yemen, Red

The move comes as the Houthis have launched dozens of attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. In its waning days, the Trump administration designated the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization over the strong objections of human rights and humanitarian aid groups. Yemen, on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula bordering the Red Sea, is the poorest country in the Arab world. While supporters of broad sanctions argue it’s possible to shape any enforcement mechanisms so to exempt food and humanitarian aid, aid organizations worry that fears of running afoul of U.S. regulation could scare away shippers, banks and other players vital to Yemen’s commercial food supply. The Red Sea attacks have already caused significant disruptions to global trade.

Persons: —, Biden, Antony Blinken, Trump, Blinken, ”, Scott Paul, “, Yemen’s Houthi, Jake Sullivan, Linda Thomas Greenfield, Brent, Houthis, Sullivan, Joe Biden's, ” Sullivan, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Al Thani, Mohammed Shia, Masrour Barzani, Jon Gambrell, Edith M, Lederer, Ellen Knickmeyer Organizations: WASHINGTON, White, U.S, Nations, Oxfam America, White House, House, Economic, British, United Nations, Consulate, Islamic, Tuesday, ___ Associated Press Locations: Yemen, Red, Gaza, Israel, Yemenis, U.S, Davos, Switzerland, Iran, Malta, Tehran, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al, Qatar, Kurdish, House, Irbil, ___, Jerusalem, Washington

The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. Brent crude futures were down 60 cents, or 0.7%, at $79.98 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 68 cents, or 0.9%, to $74.86. OPEC+ is looking at deepening oil production cuts despite its policy meeting being postponed to this Thursday, an OPEC+ source said on Monday. The Middle East crisis had impacted oil prices as investors worried about impacts on supply.

Persons: Angus Mordant, Rebecca Babin, Goldman Sachs, Arathy Somasekhar, Paul Carsten, Florence Tan, Mohi Narayan, Peter Graff, Mark Potter, Tomasz Janowski, Cynthia Osterman, David Gregorio Our Organizations: REUTERS, HOUSTON, Brent, . West Texas, Organization of, Petroleum, Reuters, Saudi, CIBC Private Wealth, ING, OPEC, United, International Energy Agency, Qatar, Hamas, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Thomson Locations: Loving County , Texas, U.S, Saudi, Russia, OPEC, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Turkey, United States, Gaza, Houston, London

The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. Brent crude futures were down 60 cents, or 0.7%, at $79.98 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 68 cents, or 0.9%, to $74.86. "We still expect an extension of the unilateral Saudi and Russia cuts through at least the first quarter of 2024," the bank added. Higher crude stockpiles in the United States have also put downward pressure on prices, analysts said. The Middle East crisis had impacted oil prices as investors worried about impacts on supply.

Persons: Angus Mordant, Rebecca Babin, Goldman Sachs, Arathy Somasekhar, Paul Carsten, Florence Tan, Mohi Narayan, Peter Graff, Mark Potter, Tomasz Janowski, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: REUTERS, HOUSTON, Brent, U.S, West Texas, Organization of, Petroleum, Reuters, Saudi, CIBC Private Wealth, ING, OPEC, United, International Energy Agency, Qatar, Hamas, Thomson Locations: Loving County , Texas, U.S, Saudi, Russia, OPEC, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Turkey, United States, Gaza, Houston, London

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - A suspension of Kurdistan's oil exports has halted repayments via crude cargoes of $6 billion owed to energy traders including Vitol and Petraco by the semi-autonomous Iraqi region, trading sources told Reuters. The suspension means Kurdistan cannot repay debts with crude oil supplies and alternative schemes have not been put in place. "Let's work out a breakthrough to the oil exports issue and then other issues could be addressed under less pressure," he said. An Iraqi oil ministry legal adviser familiar with the discussions with Kurdistan said Baghdad wants to run oil exports via its state marketing firm SOMO and wants oil sales revenues to be deposited in an independent bank account. Another Iraqi oil ministry official said no progress has been yet made on the debt issue.

☆ Iraq and Iran sign deal to tighten border security
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Ahmed Rasheed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani looks on as Iraq's National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji and Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani sign the security agreement that includes coordination in protecting the common borders between the two countries, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 19, 2023. The joint security agreement includes coordination in "protecting the common borders between the two countries and consolidating cooperation in several security fields", a statement from the Iraqi prime minister's office said. Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani signed the deal with Iraq's National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji, in the presence of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani, the prime minister office said. "Under the signed security deal, Iraq pledges it would not allow armed groups to use its territory in the Iraqi Kurdish region to launch any border-crossing attacks on neighbour Iran," said an Iraqi security official who attended the signing. Iran has also accused Kurdish militants of working with its arch-enemy Israel and has often voices concern over the alleged presence of the Israeli spy agency Mossad in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region.

☆ Turkey's push into Iraq risks deeper conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Amina Ismail | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

REUTERS/Amina IsmailSARARO, Iraq, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Looming over the deserted village of Sararo in northern Iraq, three Turkish military outposts break the skyline, part of an incursion that forced the residents to flee last year after days of shelling. Turkey's advances across the increasingly depopulated border of Iraqi Kurdistan attract little global attention compared to its incursions into Syria or the battle against Islamic State, but the escalation risks further destabilising a region where foreign powers have intervened with impunity, analysts say. EMPTY VILLAGESA Kurdish official, who declined to be named, also said Turkey now had about 80 outposts in Iraq. NEW TARGETSBeyond the humanitarian impact, Turkey's incursion risks widening the conflict by giving carte blanche to regional rival Iran to step up intelligence operations inside Iraq and take its own military action, Kurdish officials say. According to a Washington Institute report, attacks on Turkish military facilities in Iraq increased from an average of 1.5 strikes per month at the start of 2022 to seven in April.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 17 (Reuters) - A long-running dispute on oil revenue-sharing between Iraq's national government and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region may be resolved within months with agreement on a hydrocarbons law, Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Tuesday. Agreement on regular budget payments from Baghdad would help authorities in the Kurdish Regional Government resolve payment delays to international oil companies in the region, as well as easing a backlog in salary payments for KRG employees. Asked about the timing for agreement on the hydrocarbon law, Barzani said it should be within months. Under the Iraqi constitution, the KRG is entitled to a portion of the national budget. The standoff has affected the KRG's ability to pay international oil companies (IOCs) operating on its territory and to pay thousands of local employees.

☆ Iran's violent crackdown against protesters escalates in parts of the country
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Alex-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Alexander Smith | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The group, which focuses on human rights in Iranian Kurdistan, said that at least 1,500 people have been injured. Scenes from reported clashes in the northeastern Iranian city of Javanrud, shared by a Kurdish human rights group on Tuesday. The regime-aligned agency blamed the violence on “rioters” and “Kurdish separatists” who infiltrated crowds of protesters and attacked an IRGC base. Some protesters have called for an overthrow of the regime and “death to the dictator” — meaning Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. These have been condemned by Kurdish officials and the Iraqi government, despite the latter being dominated by parties close to Iran.

☆ Iran strikes dissident sites in Iraqi Kurdistan, two dead - officials
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Local officials and security sources said the attacks had struck targets near Erbil and Sulaimaniya. The Revolutionary Guards have attacked Iranian Kurdish militant opposition bases in Iraq's Kurdish region since the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16 triggered nationwide unrest. Iran has accused Iraq-based Kurdish militants of fomenting the unrest and threatened strikes against armed Iranian Kurdish dissidents. In an attack by the Guards in September, 13 people were killed and 58 were wounded near Erbil and Sulaimaniya. A media and public relation official with the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), an exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition party, told Reuters two of its fighters were killed in attacks on four of its offices.

☆ Factbox: Ethnic groups swept up in Iran's nationwide protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Critics say these accusations aim to present the protests as ethnic unrest rather than a country-wide uprising, and to justify a crackdown. Rights group Hengaw says it has recorded the deaths of at least 32 civilians killed by government forces during protests. Estimated to number some 10 million, Iranian Kurds are also Sunnis and mostly live in northwestern regions bordering Turkey and Iraq - which also have large Kurdish minorities. Kurdish human rights organisation Hengaw has identified 23 Kurdish people killed in the latest protests. The Revolutionary Guards, which have put down unrest in the Kurdish region for decades, have accused armed Iranian Kurdish dissidents of involvement in the protests.

☆ Nine reported killed as Iran Revolutionary Guards target dissident sites in Iraq
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Smoke rises from the Iraqi Kurdistan headquarters of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran, after Iran's Revolutionary Guards' strike on the outskirts of Kirkuk, Iraq September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ako RasheedDUBAI, SULAIMANIYA, Iraq Sept 28 (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday they fired missiles and drones at militant targets in the Kurdish region of neighbouring northern Iraq, where an official said nine people were killed. A senior member of Komala, an exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition party, told Reuters that several of their offices were struck as well. The Revolutionary Guards, Iran's elite military and security force, said after the attacks that they would continue targeting what it called terrorists in the region. Protests erupted in Iran this month over the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody.

☆ In Syrian north, women protest over death of Iran's Amini
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Mahsa Amini, 22, died earlier this month after being arrested in Tehran by police enforcing the Islamic Republic's strict restrictions on women's dress. Her death has touched off Iran's biggest unrest since 2019. Protesters held aloft pictures of Amini as they marched through a street in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli. 1/5 Women burn headscarves during a protest over the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in Iran, in the Kurdish-controlled city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria September 26, 2022. The Kurdish ethnic minority live mostly in a region straddling the borders of Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.

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