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Showing posts with the label Baghdad-Erbil Relations

The Next Pressure Front: Iraqi Militias, Critical Infrastructure and the Struggle for State Authority

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 Iran-aligned militias could use Iraq’s airports and critical infrastructure as leverage, testing Baghdad’s sovereignty after the US withdrawal. Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj  Iraq is entering a potentially dangerous phase in which the struggle between the state and Iran-aligned armed groups is moving beyond the question of weapons and military bases toward the country's critical infrastructure and transportation networks. The Iraqi government's decision to suspend flights operated by Iranian airlines has created a new point of confrontation between Baghdad and powerful factions that oppose restrictions on Iraq's relationship with Tehran. At the same time, assessments that Iran-backed militias could target electricity infrastructure, oil-export routes and Baghdad International Airport point toward a broader strategy of coercion: rather than directly challenging the Iraqi government militarily, armed groups could seek to impose economic and political costs that make state policy increa...
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Baghdad and Erbil Strengthen Coordination on Border Security and Combating Smuggling

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Baghdad and Erbil strengthen coordination on border security, smuggling and terrorism as Iraq reviews implementation of its security agreement with Iran. Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim Al-Aboudi discussed with Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani on Saturday the continuation of coordination between the federal government and the Kurdistan Region on border security and combating smuggling, as a high-level Iraqi committee held a meeting in Erbil to review implementation of the security agreement between Baghdad and Tehran. Al-Aboudi arrived in Erbil on Saturday morning at the head of a security delegation at the direction of Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi. The visit focused on joint security issues between the federal government and the region, as well as following up on the provisions of the security agreement between Iraq and Iran. Al-Aboudi's office said in a statement that the national security adviser met with Barzani in Erbil, where they discussed "the over...
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What Baghdad’s centralization means for Kurdistan in 2027

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By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj | Kurdish Policy Analysis Iraq’s post-2005 federal experiment faces sustained pressure from a clear recentralization drive centered in Baghdad. For the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), this trend—visible in fiscal levers, oil marketing authority, Federal Supreme Court rulings, and institutional friction—will shape the political and economic landscape of 2027 more decisively than any single election cycle or temporary deal.  As the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) prepares its demands for the 2027 federal budget and navigates delayed government formation, Baghdad’s assertion of control risks converting constitutional federalism into administrative subordination.¹ This analysis draws on recent developments, constitutional practice, and strategic assessments, including the Kurdistan Strategic Outlook 2027 published on Kurdish Policy Analysis, which projects the cumulative effects of fiscal and resource centralization through the end of the decade. Complementa...
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Barzani Presses Baghdad on KRG Rights as Fuel, Security, and Government Formation Challenges Mount

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  By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj | Kurdish Policy Analysis   Kurdish leader calls for constitutional guarantees, air defenses, and political unity amid growing regional instability Kurdistan Prime Minister Masrour Barzani urges Baghdad to uphold the Kurdistan Region's constitutional rights, announces fuel reforms, and warns of mounting security and governance challenges. Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has renewed pressure on Baghdad to fully implement Iraq's constitutional framework governing relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), arguing that unresolved disputes over salaries, fuel allocations, and security continue to undermine political stability despite improved bilateral relations. Speaking during a wide-ranging press conference on Monday, Barzani presented a government seeking to balance domestic economic pressures with an increasingly volatile regional security environment. His remarks touched on Baghdad-Erbil relations, fuel subsidies, elect...
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Kurdistan fuel price controversy deepens as Iraqi parliament launches investigation

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By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj Iraqi Parliament Investigates Kurdistan Fuel Prices as Dispute Over Oil Allocation and Refineries Intensifies Opposition Pushes Probe into KRG Oil Allocation, Refinery Interests, and Why Kurdish Citizens Pay Nearly Double Iraq's Fuel Prices The political battle over fuel prices in the Kurdistan Region has entered a new phase after Iraq's Council of Representatives established a seven-member parliamentary committee to investigate the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) management of its daily allocation of 50,000 barrels of crude oil and the continued disparity between fuel prices in the Kurdistan Region and federal Iraq. The investigation follows coordinated pressure from Kurdish opposition parties, which accuse the KRG of prioritizing politically connected refinery interests over consumers while rejecting arrangements that could provide cheaper federally subsidized fuel. The controversy comes despite Prime Minister Masrour Barzani's recent de...
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From Erbil to the World: What Rudaw’s Guinness Record Says About Kurdish Soft Power

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Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj A Kurdish media organization has just produced a digital result that deserves to be understood as more than a communications milestone. On September 14, 2026, Rudaw Media Network announced that its digital platform had entered Guinness World Records after a Rudaw fact-checking video generated 284,007,601 views on Facebook within a 24-hour period. According to Rudaw, the video , published on July 24, 2026, became the most-viewed Facebook video within a 24-hour window globally and subsequently ranked among Facebook's most-watched videos overall. Rudaw has described the achievement as a milestone for Kurdish digital media and as evidence that professional journalism produced in the Kurdistan Region can reach audiences far beyond its immediate geographical constituency. The significance of the achievement, however, is not adequately captured by the number 284 million. In geopolitical terms, the more important question is what happens when an institution based in E...
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The Gulf’s strategic chokepoint crisis | Kurdish Policy Analysis

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  Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran face a widening struggle over pipelines, Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, reshaping Gulf geopolitics and energy security. The Middle East is entering a more dangerous phase of the Iran–Gulf confrontation in which the central strategic issue is no longer simply the exchange of missiles and drones, but the control of the region’s energy and maritime arteries . In the space of days, Saudi Arabia has faced attacks launched from Iraqi territory against its East-West oil pipeline, Qatar has publicly backed Riyadh’s restraint, Iran and the Gulf states are preparing another diplomatic effort in Oman, and Iran-aligned Houthi forces have seized strategically important territory around the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Taken together, these developments reveal an emerging regional contest over whether energy can continue to move through the Gulf and Red Sea despite the wider war. The most consequential development for Iraq and the Gulf is the reported drone a...
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Iraq’s Minorities Are Not Just a Humanitarian Issue — They Are a Test of the State

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Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj Iraq’s minority question is often presented primarily as a humanitarian concern: communities displaced by war, religious sites destroyed, families unable to return home and survivors requiring assistance. That framing is understandable, but it is incomplete. Iraq’s experience since 2003 demonstrates that the survival of minority communities is inseparable from the country’s unresolved problems of governance, political representation, territorial competition and fragmented security. The central problem is therefore not simply that Iraq’s minorities have suffered repeated waves of violence. It is that the Iraqi state has repeatedly struggled to create political and security arrangements capable of protecting communities whose territories sit at the intersection of competing national, sectarian and geopolitical interests. The consequences are particularly visible in Nineveh, Sinjar and the wider disputed territories, where Baghdad, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG...
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