Unprecedented take-off and landing of US aircraft at Ain al-Assad base

Unprecedented take-off and landing of US aircraft at Ain al-Assad base
Unprecedented take-off and landing of US aircraft at Ain al-Assad base

A security source in Anbar province revealed on Thursday that there is an unprecedented movement of take-off and landing of American aircraft at Ain al-Assad base, west of Anbar, without knowing the reasons.

The source told Al-Maalouma, “The Ain al-Assad air base in the Al-Baghdadi area in the Hit district, west of Anbar, witnessed an unprecedented movement of American aircraft taking off and landing without knowing what these aircraft were carrying, which covered the skies of the western regions.”

He added that “the landing and take-off operations coincided with ground reconnaissance operations by US forces in some western regions,” indicating that “the skies of the western regions also witnessed heavy flights by US warplanes towards the Syrian depth areas as a measure whose features were not clear, but security sources revealed the existence of unclear motives for these movements.”

He stressed that “Harir Airport in Erbil Governorate is also witnessing unusual movement of landings and take-offs of American aircraft,” noting that “the security situation in all areas of the western sector of the governorate, reaching the border strip areas with Syria, is safe and stable amid unprecedented security tightening by the security forces and the Popular Mobilization Forces in anticipation of any emergency.”

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Al-Issawi rejects Halbousi’s temptations in exchange for withdrawing his nomination for the parliament presidency

Al-Issawi rejects Halbousi’s temptations in exchange for withdrawing his nomination for the parliament presidency

Al-Issawi rejects Halbousis temptations in exchange for withdrawing his nomination for the parliament presidency

Member of the Sovereignty Alliance, Mohammed Al-Dulaimi, announced on Friday that he had rejected the temptations of the dismissed President, Mohammed Al-Halbousi, in exchange for MP Salem Al-Issawi withdrawing his candidacy for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Al-Dulaimi said in a statement to Al-Maalouma Agency that “the dismissed president, Mohammed al-Halbousi, head of the Progress Party, sent a mediator to the candidate for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Salem al-Halbousi, and the mediator carried tempting offers to al-Issawi to give up his candidacy in exchange for assuming the position of Minister of Trade or the position of head of the Fund for Cities Affected by Terrorist Operations.”

He added that “Al-Issawi rejected all these temptations and announced his commitment to running for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives, indicating that “Al-Issawi informed the mediator that Halbousi does not possess the qualifications that qualify him to choose the appropriate person for this position, since the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives is not limited to one person and is not the property of a party or politician, but rather the entitlement of an entire component.”

He pointed out that “Al-Issawi confirmed that he would not give up his candidacy for the position despite the temptations that were offered to him,” stressing that “Al-Halbousi indirectly offered many temptations to remove Al-Issawi from the candidacy, but all his attempts failed.”

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Iraq stops dealing with the Chinese yuan…and the currency basket is an alternative

Iraq stops dealing with the Chinese yuan…and the currency basket is an alternative

Iraq stops dealing with the Chinese yuan...and the currency basket is an alternative

The Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed that Iraq has decided to stop dealing with the Chinese yuan in financial transfers.

Committee member Moeen Al-Kazemi said in a press statement that “the US Federal Bank imposed on Iraq to stop dealing in the Chinese yuan, under the pretext that there was manipulation in some transfers or certain problems occurred.”
He believed that “many decisions by the Central Bank are imposed by the US Federal Bank,” according to him.
Al-Kazemi pointed out that “Iraq’s money, as we know, is placed in the US Federal Bank as a result of the sale of oil at a rate of 3.5 million barrels per day, and this money enters the US Federal Bank and is not transferred to Iraq in cash, but is transferred to Iraq through transfers issued by the Central Bank and the Federal Bank is notified and then the Federal Bank is convinced of this transfer and commercial transaction and on the basis of it releases amounts to the relevant parties exporting to Iraq.”
He noted that “many of the Central Bank’s procedures are governed by the American will, and this will may be explained for administrative and financial reasons, non-financing of terrorism, and others,” believing that “the reasons are political with the aim of pressuring the Iraqi government,” according to his expression.
Regarding the impact of canceling dealing in the Chinese currency, Al-Kadhimi pointed out that “the merchant and the Central Bank have multiple options and not to deal only with the dollar, so this suspension is temporary and not permanent.”
As for what the Parliamentary Finance Committee will do in this regard, a member of the committee explained, “We will ask the Central Bank to address the issue and for the currency basket to be diverse, so that the options are more for the Central Bank and Iraqi merchants.”
It is noteworthy that Iraq has strengthened its assets denominated in yuan through the Singapore Development Bank to finance Iraqi trade and imports with China by about $ 12 billion annually.
Iraq has also moved to strengthen its assets in the Emirati dirham and negotiated an increase in its assets denominated in euros to finance trade with the European Union, and Iraq has also begun opening bank accounts in the Indian rupee for a number of Iraqi banks.
Since the beginning of 2023, the Central Bank of Iraq has issued several decisions aimed at maintaining the stability of the general monetary and economic situation and confronting the risks of fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar, in addition to facilitating import and export operations by opening new horizons with international banks, including Chinese banks.
Among the decisions of the Central Bank of Iraq is to enhance the balances of Iraqi banks that have accounts with Chinese banks in Chinese yuan, as dealing in yuan directly without the mediation of the US dollar contributes to facilitating and accelerating financial transactions, and will reduce import costs and protect against the risks of fluctuating exchange rates within Iraq.

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Oil Smuggling to Iran: Kurdistan Region Risks Ties with Washington

Oil Smuggling to Iran: Kurdistan Region Risks Ties with Washington
Oil Smuggling to Iran - Kurdistan Region Risks Ties with Washington

Hundreds of oil trucks leave every day from sites near Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, heading north to Turkey and east to Iran, snarling traffic on the region’s winding, mountainous highways.

Observers say this trade could affect the close relations between the United States and Kurdistan.

A US official noted that this trade could also put Kurdistan on a collision course with its close ally Washington, which is assessing whether this trade violates any US economic sanctions imposed on Iran.

Reuters quoted another US official as saying that Washington is examining the oil trade to assess compliance with sanctions imposed on Iran.

The U.S. Treasury declined to comment. “U.S. sanctions on Iran remain in place, and we engage with our partners on a regular basis about sanctions implementation, but we do not disclose details of the conversations,” a State Department official said.

The trucks are the most visible aspect of a massive operation to move oil from the semi-autonomous Iraqi region to Iran and Turkey in opaque, informal deals that have been rampant since a formal export pipeline was shut down last year.

According to sources, more than 1,000 trucks carry at least 200,000 barrels of low-priced oil daily to Iran and also to Turkey, but in smaller quantities. It is a trade that generates about $200 million a month.

Asim Jihad, spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry, said that the Kurdish trade did not have the approval of the Iraqi government, and that the state-run Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) is the only official body allowed to sell Iraqi crude.

He said the government does not have accurate figures on the quantities of oil being smuggled to Iran and Turkey.

But a senior Iraqi parliamentary official familiar with oil affairs said Baghdad was aware of the details of the trade but was avoiding public criticism as officials sought to resolve disputes with Erbil.

The source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, added that pressuring Erbil to stop oil smuggling would reduce the region and deprive it of all sources of funding, which could lead to its collapse.

Iraqi officials said the size of the unofficial exports, which have not been previously reported, is one reason why Iraq has been unable to comply with production cuts agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) this year.

“OPEC is now less tolerant of smuggling and has been known to impose punitive measures on members who violate the law,” said Jim Krane, an expert at the Baker Institute at Rice University in Houston. “I doubt we will see any backlash against Baghdad because the Kurdish region is known to be outside the control of the central authorities.”

Until last year, the Kurdistan Region exported most of the crude oil it produced through the official pipeline between Iraq and Turkey, which runs from the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

But those exports, which had been around 450,000 barrels per day, stopped in March 2023 when an international court ruled to grant a request from the Iraqi government to halt shipments, leaving the pipeline in legal and financial limbo.

The Baghdad government, which has long maintained that it is the sole authority to sell Iraqi oil, has successfully argued that Turkey arranged the exports with the KRG without its consent, in violation of a 1973 treaty.

Local officials said there was no accounting or recording of any revenue from the trade in the coffers of the Kurdistan Regional Government, which is struggling to pay the salaries of thousands of public sector employees.

“There is no trace of oil revenues,” said Ali Homa Salih, a lawmaker who was head of the Kurdistan parliament’s oil committee before it was dissolved in 2023. He estimated the trade at more than 300,000 barrels a day, higher than most other estimates.

Hiwa Mohammed, a senior official in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (one of the two ruling parties in the region), said that the oil passes through the border crossings with the knowledge of the regional and Iraqi authorities.

Officials from the Kurdistan Regional Government did not respond to requests for comment.
There is no official spokesman for the KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources, which oversees Kurdistan’s oil trade.

A senior official in the Kurdistan Ministry of Natural Resources said that the region’s oil production is 375,000 barrels per day, 200,000 of which are trucked to Iran and Turkey, and the rest are refined locally.

“No one knows what will happen to the revenues of 200,000 (barrels per day) that are smuggled abroad, or the oil derivatives sold to the region’s refineries,” said the official, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Political and oil sector sources said that oil companies in Kurdistan are selling crude oil to local buyers at discounted prices ranging from $30 to $40 per barrel, about half the global price of Brent crude, equivalent to revenues of at least $200 million per month.

While most oil production was halted when the pipeline was shut, some companies, including DNO, Keystone and Shamaran, said in statements that they have since started producing crude oil to sell to buyers inside Kurdistan.

Most political and oil sector sources said most of the oil trucked to Iran goes through official Iraqi border crossings, including Haj Omran, or through Penjwin in the south.

Political, diplomatic and industry sources said crude oil is loaded from there onto ships at Iranian Gulf ports in Bandar Imam Khomeini and Bandar Abbas, a trade route used in the past for Kurdish oil exports, or transported overland to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The trade is the latest iteration of Iraq’s long-standing black market oil trade, which is often seen as benefiting political elites closely linked to business interests.

Twelve people said that officials in Kurdistan’s two ruling parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, to which the Barzani clan belongs, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, to which the Talabani clan belongs, are the beneficiaries.

“There is a maze of black market salespeople who get paid and people who approve those sales,” said a source involved in the Kurdish oil trade. “It’s not that they just turn a blind eye; they get their cut.”

Political interests are so tied up with trade that resuming official exports via the pipeline, once seen as a priority, has fallen down the diplomatic agenda, said a senior diplomat in Baghdad.

KDP officials did not respond to requests for comment on the black market trade. Mohammed, the PUK official, would not comment on who might be behind it.

Kurdish officials say the region has been forced into the trade because of the pipeline closure, which they see as part of broader attempts by Iranian-backed Shiite parties in Baghdad to curtail the relative autonomy Iraqi Kurdistan has enjoyed since the end of the first Gulf War in 1991.

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Iraqi Dinar / US Dollar auction results for today 7-11-2024

Iraqi Dinar / US Dollar auction results for today 7-11-2024

Results of the foreign currency selling window for Thursday 7/11/2024

10K Iraqi Dinar notesAdvertisement No. (5159)

The amount:

Total amounts of transfers abroad (transfers, credits)
247,077,731

Total cash withdrawals
23,130,000

Total total sales
270,387,731

Note that: The selling price of documentary credits and international settlements for electronic cards is ( 1310 ) dinars per dollar.

The selling price for transfer amounts abroad is ( 1310 ) dinars per dollar.
The cash selling price is ( 1305 ) dinars per dollar.

cbi.iq/currency_auction

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A senior source reveals the secret of the movement of American Chinook aircraft in the skies of Baghdad

A senior source reveals the secret of the movement of American Chinook aircraft in the skies of Baghdad

A senior source reveals the secret of the movement of American Chinook aircraft in the skies of BaghdadA senior security source revealed today, Thursday, that smuggling operations are taking place inside Iraqi airspace by American planes and Zionist crews. While he confirmed that the planes are moving inside American military bases in Iraq, he called on the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to limit the movement of these planes and prevent them from flying without official approvals.

The source, who preferred not to be named, told Al-Maalouma Agency that American Chinook aircraft are flying over Iraq, moving between the American military bases of Al-Harir, Ain Al-Assad, and Cobra, noting that the aircraft are carrying all kinds of prohibited items, including drugs, weapons, and smuggling terrorists from one place to another.

He added, “One of the crews of those planes are Zionists who work to transport spies between the Israeli Mossad centers in the region,” noting that the planes’ path passes over the western edge of Baghdad because the airspace in those areas is secured and the Americans control it.”

The source concluded his statement by saying: “We call on the government to verify the cargo of these planes and inspect them, and for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to intervene to verify what is being transported inside the planes,” wondering about the reasons for their passage through the middle of Baghdad and over residential areas.

It is noteworthy that there are currently at least 6,132 American soldiers in Iraq, deployed in military bases throughout the country, under the pretext of providing military advice to the Iraqi army.

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For the first time, the Iraqi state’s non-oil revenues record an increase of 11%

For the first time, the Iraqi state’s non-oil revenues record an increase of 11%

For the first time the Iraqi states non-oil revenues record an increase of 11 percentThe “Iraq Al-Mustaqbal” Foundation for Economic Studies and Consultations announced on Thursday that for the first time, the non-oil revenues of the Iraqi state recorded 11% of the total revenues, with oil revenues falling below the 90% barrier.

A report issued by the institution today stated that non-oil revenues for the first five months of the current year amounted to 6.24 trillion Iraqi dinars, while oil revenues for the same period of the current year amounted to 48.4 trillion Iraqi dinars.

According to the report, tax revenues on income and wealth increased by 118%, while revenues from commodity taxes and production fees increased by 285%.

The institution’s report indicated that fee revenues increased by 50%, while oil revenues increased by 6.4%.

The continued reliance of the Iraqi state on oil as the sole source of the general budget is a dangerous matter in the face of global crises that occur from time to time due to the impact of oil on them, which makes the country turn every time to cover the deficit through borrowing from abroad or domestically, which thus indicates the inability to manage the state’s funds effectively, and the inability to find alternative financing solutions.

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The Central Bank explains the reasons for the rise in dollar prices

The Central Bank explains the reasons for the rise in dollar prices
The Central Bank explains the reasons for the rise in dollar prices

Today, Wednesday, Ahmed Brihi, a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Iraq, explained the reasons for the rise in the dollar exchange rate in the local market.

In a statement to Al-Maalouma Agency, Brihi said, “The issue of the rise in the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar in the local market is not related to the measures taken by the bank, but rather due to the American restrictions imposed on the Central Bank and related to the electronic platform.”

He added, “Another reason related to the rise in the dollar exchange rate is the connection to the electronic platform that controls the floating of the currency in the market, where it is less than demand, and thus the dollar price will be raised, and the platform is controlled by the US Federal Reserve, which causes a difference from the official price.”

The exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar has recorded a noticeable increase in the stock exchange and exchange shops in the capital, Baghdad, and the governorates, during the past few days.

During the current period, America has worked to destroy the Iraqi currency by imposing sanctions on private banks and preventing the dollar under many pretexts, which in one way or another led to a severe financial crisis in local markets.

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MP accuses America of obstructing Iraq’s economic openness to the world

MP accuses America of obstructing Iraq’s economic openness to the world
MP accuses America of obstructing Iraqs economic openness to the world

Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Economic Committee, Yasser Al-Husseini, accused the United States of America, today, Wednesday, of obstructing Iraq’s economic openness to the countries of the world.Al-Husseini said in an interview with / Al-Maalouma / agency, that “the United States of America stands against Iraq’s economic openness to the countries of the world, indicating that America has contributed greatly to preventing the arrival of international companies to Iraq.”He added that “America stands as a stumbling block to the growth of the Iraqi economy,” noting that “what Iraq has reached is due to American interference in internal affairs.”
He continued that “America does not want Iraq to be at the forefront of economically advanced countries.”

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Former MP: Localization in regional banks is a political favor

Former MP: Localization in regional banks is a political favor
Former MP - Localization in regional banks is a political favor

Former MP Ghaleb Mohammed considered, on Wednesday, the Federal Court’s decision to allow all licensed banks in Kurdistan to participate in localizing the salaries of the region’s employees as a courtesy to the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Mohammed said in a statement to Al-Maalouma Agency, “The judiciary’s decision was clear that the settlement would be limited to federal banks, but these decisions were circumvented in order to please the regional government for electoral purposes and political interests.”

He added, “The Kurdish employee does not trust the private banks affiliated with the regional government or influential figures,” noting that “all the private banks in the region belong to the two ruling families.”

He demanded that “the federal government make the settlement directly through the federal government’s banks, because settlement by the regional government would be very harmful to the Kurdish citizen.”

It is noteworthy that the Federal Court approved the legality of the accounting project and agreed to localize the salaries of the Kurdistan Regional Government employees in the banks through it.

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