Latest news with #AhmedRasheed
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US preparing to evacuate embassy in Iraq over security risks, sources say
By Ahmed Rasheed and Daphne Psaledakis BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States is preparing to evacuate its Iraqi embassy due to heightened security risks in the region, three U.S. and two Iraqi sources said on Wednesday while a U.S. official said military dependents could also leave Bahrain. The sources did not specify which security risks had prompted the decision to evacuate and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if stuttering talks over its nuclear programme fail and on Wednesday he said he was growing less confident that Tehran would agree to stop enriching uranium, a key American demand. Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said Iran would hit U.S. bases if the nuclear talks failed, leading to war. "The State Department is set to have an ordered departure for (the) U.S. embassy in Baghdad. The intent is to do it through commercial means, but the U.S. military is standing by if help is requested," a U.S. official said. An Iraqi foreign ministry official said a "partial evacuation" of U.S. embassy staff had been confirmed due to what the official termed "potential security concerns related to possible regional tensions". U.S. military dependents in Bahrain can temporarily depart due to the heightened regional tensions, a U.S. official told Reuters. Another U.S. official said that there was no change in operations at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East and that no evacuation order had been issued for employees or families linked to the U.S. embassy in Qatar, which was operating as usual.
The Star
05-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Iraq holds Kurdish government legally responsible for continued oil smuggling
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's oil ministry said on Thursday it holds the Kurdish regional government (KRG) legally responsible for the continued smuggling of oil from the Kurdish region outside the country. The ministry reserves the right to take all legal measures in the matter, it added. Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between Baghdad and Erbil. Iraq is under pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output to compensate for having produced more than its agreed volume. OPEC counts oil flows from Kurdistan as part of Iraq's quota. In a ruling issued in 2022, Iraq's federal court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude oil supplies. The ministry said the KRG's failure to comply with the law has hurt both oil exports and public revenue, forcing Baghdad to cut output from other fields to meet OPEC quotas. The ministry added that it had urged the KRG to hand over crude produced from its fields, warning that failure to do so could result in significant financial losses and harm the country's international reputation and oil commitments. Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details. (Reporting by Jana Choukeir in Dubai and Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Sonali Paul)
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Iraq's oil minister has 'reservations' about energy agreements signed by Kurdish region
By Muayad Kenany and Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's oil minister said that the federal government has reservations about energy agreements signed by the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, after Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani oversaw the signing of two deals with U.S. companies worth a combined $110 billion over their lifetimes. "Agreements and contracts like this should be signed by the federal government," Hayan Abdel-Ghani told reporters on Wednesday. The agreements involve the development of the Miran and Topkhana-Kurdamir gas fields in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniya, and on Tuesday the federal oil ministry that Abdel-Ghani leads called the deals "null and void". The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Natural Resources said in a statement in response to that that the deals were based on contracts that had been signed "many years ago" and that had been upheld as legal by Iraqi courts. Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between the federal government and the Kurdistan regional government. A key dispute is over a pipeline running through Turkey that has been halted since March 2023 after the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce ruled that Turkey violated provisions of a 1973 treaty by facilitating Kurdish exports without Baghdad's consent. Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arab leaders toughen denunciations of Israel as it ramps up Gaza bombing
By Ahmed Rasheed and Moayed Kenany BAGHDAD (Reuters) -Arab leaders at a summit in Baghdad called on Saturday for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, accusing Israel in starker language of trying to drive the Palestinians out of the enclave altogether after it ramped up its bombing campaign. Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians since Thursday in one of the deadliest waves of bombardment since a truce collapsed in March, even as U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped up a Middle East tour on Friday. Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, whose country is one of the main mediators in Gaza peace talks, described Israel's actions as "systematic crimes" aimed at "obliterating and annihilating" the Palestinians and "ending their existence in the Gaza Strip". Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the summit's host, said Israel was engaged in genocide. U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who addressed the summit, said "nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people". After a six-week ceasefire, Israel imposed a total blockade of Gaza and resumed its military campaign in March. It blames Hamas fighters for harm to civilians for operating among them, which Hamas denies. Israel's declared goal is the elimination of the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas, which attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages. The military campaign has devastated the tiny, crowded enclave, pushing nearly all its 2.3 million inhabitants from their homes and killing more than 53,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities. Israel faces growing international pressure to resume ceasefire talks and allow food and medical supplies into Gaza. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher asked the Security Council this week if it would act to "prevent genocide". Iraq's prime minister announced the creation of a fund to help reconstruct Arab states after war, with an initial pledge of $20 million each for Gaza and Lebanon, where swathes of the south were destroyed last year in an Israeli campaign against the Hezbollah group.
Zawya
07-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Iraq boosts condensate production amid gas capture efforts, statement says
Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil announced in a statement that the country has seen an increase in natural gas production and associated gas capture projects. These initiatives, aimed at reducing flaring and meeting local demand, have led to the availability of large volumes of condensates, reaching approximately 160,000 barrels per day, said an Iraqi oil ministry statement on Wednesday. Condensate, an ultra-light oil, is primarily processed at splitters to produce petrochemical feedstock naphtha or used as a diluent for heavy crude. According to the statement, most of the condensates produced are blended with crude oil to enhance their specifications. The increase in condensate production marks a notable step in Iraq's efforts to optimize its energy resources and reduce environmental impact through improved gas capture and utilisation. (Reporting by Maha El Dahan; Writing by Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
