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Showing posts with the label Nuclear Program

After the American Shield: What the US Withdrawal Means for Iraqi Kurdistan and Iraq’s New Security Order

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  US withdrawal reshapes Iraq’s security order, exposing Kurdistan to new risks while testing Baghdad’s sovereignty and defence capacity. Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj The United States is preparing to complete the withdrawal of its remaining military forces from Iraq by September 30, closing a 23-year chapter that began with the 2003 invasion and evolved into a long-term counterterrorism partnership. For Baghdad, the departure represents the restoration of sovereignty and the transition toward a bilateral security relationship. For Erbil, however, the same event is being experienced through a fundamentally different security lens. The immediate question is not whether Iraq should possess greater sovereignty, but what happens to the security architecture that has protected the Kurdistan Region while that sovereignty remains contested in practice. The withdrawal therefore exposes a strategic contradiction at the centre of post-ISIS Iraq: Baghdad is gaining greater formal control over national ...
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From Vienna to New York: will Iran’s nuclear crisis return to the UN Security Council? | Kurdish Policy Analysis

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  Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj | Kurdish Policy Analysis | September 2026 Iran’s nuclear verification crisis could return its file to the UN Security Council, raising risks for diplomacy and Middle East security. The confrontation over Iran’s nuclear program is entering another dangerous phase. As the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors meets in Vienna, the central dispute is no longer simply whether Tehran is cooperating with international inspectors. It is whether the collapse of nuclear verification following the 2025 strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will become the basis for a new escalation toward the United Nations Security Council. The immediate issue is straightforward but strategically profound. The IAEA says it has been unable to establish what happened to Iran’s previously declared nuclear material at several facilities struck by Israel and the United States, while Tehran argues that the very military attacks that destroyed or damaged those facilities c...
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While Trump and Netanyahu signal confidence, Iran’s nuclear clock may be ticking faster than ever

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By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj | Kurdish Policy Analysis Despite public optimism from Washington and Jerusalem, mounting questions over Iran's hidden nuclear activities suggest the confrontation is entering its most dangerous phase. Trump and Netanyahu project confidence, but concerns over Iran's secret nuclear activities at Pickaxe Mountain raise fears the conflict is far from over. While Trump and Netanyahu Signal Confidence, Iran’s Nuclear Clock May Be Ticking Faster Than Ever As the cameras disappeared and the doors of the White House closed behind US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both leaders emerged eager to project unity. Trump described the meeting as "very good," while Netanyahu hailed it as one of their strongest ever. Yet beneath the diplomatic choreography lies a far more troubling reality: the military campaign launched against Iran has not produced the decisive strategic outcome either leader had hoped for. Instead, th...
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Iran's rapid military reconstruction raises new questions about U.S. and Israeli strike effectiveness

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  By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj | Kurdish Policy Analysis Satellite imagery suggests Tehran is rapidly restoring missile bases, military infrastructure, and industrial facilities, raising new questions about the long-term effectiveness of U.S. and Israeli strikes. Iran's Rapid Military Reconstruction Raises New Questions About U.S. and Israeli Strike Effectiveness Satellite imagery suggests Iran is rapidly rebuilding missile bases, ports, and military infrastructure, challenging claims that U.S. and Israeli strikes achieved lasting strategic damage. Despite repeated assertions by Washington and Tel Aviv that recent military operations had severely degraded Iran's military infrastructure, new satellite imagery and assessments from Western intelligence officials indicate that Tehran is rebuilding critical facilities far faster than many analysts anticipated. The reconstruction effort has surprised military planners in both the United States and Israel, fueling concerns that airpower al...
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Trump warns Iran: 'Pickaxe Mountain' nuclear site is next

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  By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj The U.S. president says Iran's previously untouched Pickaxe Mountain facility could soon become Washington's next military target, raising fears of another round of conflict in the Middle East. Donald Trump signals a possible U.S. strike on Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site, escalating tensions over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. A New Nuclear Flashpoint Emerges Just weeks after the latest confrontation between Washington and Tehran, President Donald Trump has hinted that the United States may launch another military strike—this time targeting Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility . Speaking during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt , Trump described the underground complex as a likely military objective. "Pickaxe is a possible target for a nice big fat shot right near the front door." He added that U.S. intelligence has been closely monitoring the site and suggested military action could come "r...
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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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