Latest news with #KurdishAuthorities
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Drone attacks on oil fields in Iraq's Kurdish region shut down facilities
BAGHDAD — Drones targeted oil fields in Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region Wednesday, the latest in a series of attacks in recent days that have put several oil facilities out of commission. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which have exacerbated tensions between the central government in Baghdad and Kurdish authorities.
Asharq Al-Awsat
12-06-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
US Urges Baghdad, Erbil to Carry Out ‘Constructive Dialogue'
The United States has urged Baghdad and Erbil 'to resolve their issues through constructive dialogue consistent with their constitutional responsibilities' after rising tension over the payment of salaries in the Kurdistan region. Tensions have escalated between Iraq's central government in Baghdad and the semiautonomous Kurdish region in the country's north in a long-running dispute over the sharing of oil revenues. The central government has accused the Kurdish regional authorities of making illegal deals and facilitating oil smuggling. Baghdad cut off funding for public sector salaries in the Kurdish region ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday. Kurdish authorities called the move 'collective punishment' and threatened to retaliate. 'Resolving the salaries issue quickly sends a signal that Iraq is creating an environment in which US companies would want to invest,' US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Tuesday. 'Successful resolution would also send a positive signal on broader cooperation for the benefit of all Iraqis, such as reopening the Iraq-Türkiye pipeline and additional energy exploration, including with US companies,' Bruce said. 'US support for a strong and resilient Iraqi Kurdistan Region remains a crucial element of our relationship with Iraq,' she added. Her remarks, which were seen as supportive of Baghdad, came as Sulaymaniyah - a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region – witnessed demonstrations on Wednesday over the delay in the payment of public sector salaries. Employees in several departments announced an open-ended strike, saying they will not return to work unless the authorities pay them their wages. The employees called on Erbil and the Baghdad government to assume their legal and humanitarian responsibilities, saying their living conditions require action.
Arab News
05-06-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Iraq holds Kurdish government legally responsible for continued oil smuggling
BAGHDAD: 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 Irbil. 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-Turkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5 percent of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.
Asharq Al-Awsat
05-06-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling
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, Reuters reported. 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-Türkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.
Asharq Al-Awsat
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Syria's Govt and Kurds Reach Agreement on Returning Families from Notorious Camp
Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria announced Monday they have reached an agreement with the transitional government in Damascus to evacuate Syrian citizens from a sprawling camp in the desert that houses tens of thousands of people with alleged ties to the ISIS extremist group. Sheikhmous Ahmed, an official in the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country's northeast, said an agreement was reached on a 'joint mechanism' for returning the families from al-Hol camp after a meeting among local authorities, representatives of the central government in Damascus and a delegation from the US-led international coalition fighting ISIS. Ahmed denied reports that administration of the camp will be handed over to Damascus in the near future, saying 'there was no discussion in this regard with the visiting delegation or with the Damascus government." Human rights groups for years have cited poor living conditions and pervasive violence in the camp, which houses about 37,000 people, mostly wives and children of ISIS fighters, as well as supporters of the group. They also include Iraqis as well as nationals of Western countries who traveled to join ISIS. The US military has been pushing for years for countries that have citizens at al-Hol and the smaller, separate Roj Camp to repatriate them. Iraq has taken back increasing numbers of citizens in recent years, but many other countries have remained reluctant. As for Syrians housed in the camp, a mechanism has been in place for several years to return those who want to go back to their communities in the Kurdish-controlled areas, where centers have been opened to reintegrate them. Before now, however, there had not been an agreement with the government in Damascus to return them to areas under the central government's control. The new agreement comes amid attempts to increase the cooperation between Kurdish authorities and the new leaders in Damascus after former President Bashar al-Assad was unseated in an opposition offensive in December. Under a deal signed in March between Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the SDF is to be merged into the new government armed forces. All border crossings with Iraq and Türkiye and airports and oil fields in the northeast are to come under the central government's control. Prisons where about 9,000 suspected members of the ISIS group are held are also expected to come under central government control. The deal marked a major step toward unifying the disparate factions that had carved up Syria into de facto mini-states during its civil war that began in 2011 after the brutal crackdown by Assad's government on massive anti-government protests. However, implementation has been slow. Washington has been pushing for its enactment and, in particular, for Damascus to take over management of the prisons in northeast Syria.
