When last December the Iraqi government declared victory over the co-called Islamic State group (IS), many in Iraq and elsewhere spoke of a new era of peace and reconstruction. Haider al-Abadi, prime minister, attributed the defeat of IS to “unity”, and the parliament election of May 12 would, many hoped, give a new political impetus…
The surprise arrival of Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr in Jeddah in July led to confusion in the Iranian media, probably reflecting confusion among the country’s political leadership. One account had Sadr as a mediator between Tehran and Riyadh, another maintained he was challenging Iran. Sadr had not been in Saudi Arabia since 2006, after which…
Bassel Khatoun, chief investment officer for MENA equities at Franklin Templeton Investments, discusses oil markets and the impact of the Iraqi-Kurdish clashes on prices. Oil prices to undergo massive fluctuation from Mediaquest on Vimeo. Oil markets from Mediaquest on Vimeo.
The KRG and the Consortium, together (the “Parties”), signed a Heads of Agreement on Khor Mor and Chemchemal fields on 4 April 2007 (the “HoA”). Subsequently a dispute arose between them concerning certain matters under the HoA, and they referred this dispute on 21 October 2013 to an arbitration under LCIA case reference number 132527…
Beginning in December 2014, the US Department of State has offered qualified Afghans and Iraqis who once worked for the American government an opportunity to immigrate with their families to the US. According to former Secretary of State John Kerry, these entry permits – Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) – were created to help Iraqis and…
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq has reported that violence claimed the lives of 1,103 Iraqis in February and 1,375 in January. Its figures did not include the one third of the country held by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) and have certainly been overtaken in the offensive by the Iraqi army and allied…
Desperate times call for desperate measures. And the fall in oil prices seems to be pushing the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to resort to desperate means to deal with a cash crunch. Hit by the decline in oil prices and the airstrikes launched by an international alliance of countries, the organization is…
Lack of parliamentary approval of Iraq’s 2014 budget is likely to result in a deficit, which will be about five per cent of the gross domestic product. In a meeting with the International Monetary Fund officials in Jordan recently, the Iraqi government expressed its commitment to present a draft 2015 budget to parliament soon. The…
Establishing a democratic system is not an easy task. The fallout of such efforts could be extremely destructive – and as a result some of the Middle East and North African countries are struggling to come back to normal. Libya and Syria can easily serve as the case studies for the research experts who want…
With politicians struggling to bring stability to Iraq, ever-intensifying violence and foreign powers swaying aimlessly with indecisive rhetoric does not mean well for the country. If Sunni and Shia could not live in the same street they could hardly share a common identity,” wrote Patrick Cockburn, the Iraq correspondent of the London Independent, in his…
