Iraq's oil exports through the Kurdistan Region's pipeline to Turkey doubled from 250,000 to 500,000 barrels a day, according to Baz Karim Barzanji, head of the Erbil-based energy company KAR Group, who wrote on X on Saturday. The crude shipped on the route is marketed by the state-run Somo. Oil Minister Basim al-Abadi said exports through all routes had risen above 3.4 million barrels a day since the start of October.
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An Iraqi court on Tuesday sentenced six French nationals to life in prison and a seventh to 15 years after convicting them of membership in the Islamic State (IS) group, a Reuters witness inside the courtroom said, France 24 reported. The men were among 47 French IS suspects transferred from detention facilities in northeast Syria to Iraq last year under a broader relocation arrangement coordinated by US forces and Iraqi authorities.
Iran's Mehr news agency reported that the Revolutionary Guards' ground forces hit the headquarters of the Komala group in the Balisan region with drones the previous night, according to Middle East Eye, which cited the agency. Mehr described Komala as a “terrorist and separatist group”, and the target is in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
A drone struck the headquarters of anti-Iran groups northeast of Erbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region, according to Reuters, which cited security sources in the region, in a report by Mehr News. No further details were announced on possible casualties or damage.
Iraq believes Israel was behind recent strikes on two sites where Iran-backed militias had stockpiled “Chinese-made shoulder-fired air defense systems” sourced from Tehran, sources told London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, as reported by the Jerusalem Post. The report did not provide evidence for the claims and noted that parts of them could not be confirmed.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it will stand with Iran against what it described as Zionist-American aggression against the Islamic Republic, according to Mehr News. The statement said 171 violations of Iraqi airspace by American combat and surveillance aircraft were documented between September 30 and October 23.
Iraq's prime minister said on Friday that no US troops are left in the country, including in advisory roles, according to Anadolu, as Baghdad moves to bring all weapons under state control by next June. He said that by June 30, 2027, there will be no weapons outside the framework of the state, and stressed that the government's decision to restrict weapons to state institutions is final and irreversible.
Iraq has closed the Al Sheeb border crossing with Iran to travelers and goods, according to a government official cited by The National. The closure took effect at 6am local time on Wednesday and will remain in place until further notice. Two sources at the crossing told Reuters that the measure also affects vehicles and commercial trucks, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Iran's envoy said Iraq agreed to expel the anti-Iran adversary group, Mehr News reported. Tehran and Baghdad agreed on the expulsion of “anti-Iran separatist terrorists”, according to the official Iranian agency IRNA. Iran says Iraq has agreed to expel Iranian Kurdish opposition groups from the Kurdistan region, according to The National.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Baghdad on the sidelines of the Council of Foreign Ministers meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), according to Mehr News. The two foreign ministers exchanged views on bilateral ties, the latest developments in the region and issues of mutual interest.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi met with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, in Baghdad on Saturday, on the sidelines of the Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), according to the Iranian agency Mehr News.
Iraq’s parliament approved Laith al-Khazali, a senior leader of the Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq group and brother of its leader Qais al-Khazali, as one of three deputy prime ministers, completing the formation of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government with Thursday’s vote on previously vacant cabinet posts. The US designated Asaib Ahl al-Haq as a foreign terrorist organisation in 2020 and named both brothers as “specially designated global terrorists”, citing attacks including a 2007 assault that killed five US soldiers. Laith al-Khazali was arrested by US forces in 2007 over allegations related to an attack targeting American forces in Karbala in January of that year.
Iraqi Kurds have proposed a peace process between Iran and the Iranian Kurdish opposition, a proposal discussed extensively with Iranian officials in Tehran that Talabani said will be a lengthy process, in a report by Middle East Eye. Iranian Kurdish parties contacted by Middle East Eye said they were not aware of new talks with Iran, or refused to comment. Since the withdrawal, Iran has targeted the Iranian Kurdish parties with drones three times, including during the Meri forum in Koya.
Countries of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) taking part in the oil production restraint agreement increased output by 2.31 million barrels per day in September 2026 but still fell 5.42 million barrels short of their targets, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), cited by TASS. In the month, also according to the IEA, Saudi Arabia raised output by 2.33 million barrels per day, Kuwait cut 550,000, Iraq increased 520,000, Oman added 20,000 and Russia, 70,000.
Iraqi F-16 fighter jets carried out two airstrikes targeting a hideout belonging to remnants of Daesh elements in the Nareen area, in eastern Diyala province, resulting in its complete destruction, according to the Security Media Cell. The strikes came less than two weeks after the US-led coalition’s mission against ISIS in Iraq officially ended on Sept. 30, according to operativmm.az, citing the Security Media Cell.
A drone struck an Iranian Kurdish opposition camp in Koya, east of Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Monday, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Iran International. There were no immediate reports of casualties, per two security sources cited by the agency. The Kurdistan-based website Rudaw released a video showing a drone over Koya.
The United States formally ended its Operation Inherent Resolve mission in Iraq on September 30, completing a withdrawal agreed on in 2024. The mission, launched in 2014 to fight Islamic State, has been replaced by an Iraqi-led security effort, with Washington keeping training and intelligence support, according to the South China Morning Post.
Iraq devalued its currency on Wednesday, changing the official exchange rate from around 1,300 dinars to the U.S. dollar to 1,500 dinars to the dollar, according to AP. The central bank said the new rate had been decided at a Cabinet meeting the night before to meet the relevant financial, economic and monetary requirements. The gap between the official and parallel rates had widened in recent months as a result of the U.S.-Iran war, which has sometimes spilled over into Iraq, and disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi forces say they carried out security operations across 12 provinces, arresting 55 suspects, including at least 23 linked to the dissolved Baath party, according to the force itself.
Iranian airlines resumed flights to Najaf after the Iraqi government said it had secured an agreement with the United States allowing 40 daily flights to and from the city, except those of Mahan Air, according to the Middle East Eye. Last month, Iraq enforced the US ban on Iranian carriers, especially at Najaf’s airport, a major hub for Iranian flights.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry congratulated the Iraqi government and people on Saturday on the exit of US and other foreign forces from Iraq, according to Middle East Eye. In a statement posted on its Telegram channel, the ministry said the withdrawal is “a very important and necessary step” towards consolidating Iraq’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. The ministry accused the United States of causing “irreparable consequences” for Iraq and the region since the 2003 invasion, which it said was launched under the false pretext of “weapons of mass destruction”, and called for the US government to be held accountable for crimes committed during the occupation.
The director of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said on Saturday that flights operated by Iranian and Iraqi airlines between the two countries will resume on Sunday, according to Mehr News. The Iraqi government had said on Friday that it reached an agreement allowing Iranian airlines, except Mahan Air, to operate 40 daily flights to and from Najaf, after Baghdad secured a US exemption, according to Mehr News.
The Iraq Oil Tankers Company transported two million barrels of Iraqi crude aboard a very large crude carrier (VLCC) through the Strait of Hormuz, its director general said in a statement, describing it as the company’s first such operation in decades, according to Middle East Eye.
Iraq has cleared 40 daily flights by Iranian airlines, excluding Mahan Air, to and from Najaf international airport, after flights were suspended because of US sanctions, according to Reuters.
Iran called on Iraq to lift the remaining flight restrictions and fully restore normal air travel between the two countries, according to Al Jazeera, with the Iranian foreign minister condemning Washington efforts to disrupt the country trade and air transport as “illegal and inhumane”.
The United States (US) does not rule out carrying out strikes on Iraq if it sees a threat on Iraqi territory, even after the official end of its operation in the country, according to Sputnik Globe, citing The Washington Post. US forces will be redeployed from Iraq to Jordan to focus on combating ISIS cells in Syria.
The US-led coalition ended its more than decade-long mission in Iraq on Wednesday, a mission that began in 2014 when the Islamic State seized large territories in Iraq and Syria, according to Middle East Eye. The final contingent was of roughly 1,500 troops at Erbil Air Base, down from about 2,500 personnel across Iraq before the withdrawal. The Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs said Iraqi Kurdistan has endured more than a thousand drone and ballistic missile attacks since 28 February, when Israel and the US launched the war on Iran. The prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, said the threat is real and that the Kurds are vulnerable and under attack.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) congratulated Iraq on the full withdrawal of American forces, calling it a historic victory and the dawn of West Asia’s liberation from the yoke of the “Great Satan,” and said the expulsion resulted from the Iraqi people’s steadfastness for independence, according to Mehr News Agency.
Kataib Hezbollah leader Ahmad al-Hamdawi announced the suspension of military activities, with the exception of targeting hostile aircraft violating the country’s airspace, while spokesperson Jaafar al-Husseini said negotiations with the government on regulating weapons failed to yield an agreement and the weapons remain with the fighters, according to the Associated Press (AP), in a text republished by Middle East Eye. The announcement came on Wednesday, the first day of the country’s post-coalition period, according to Iraqi News.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi said on Wednesday that the country’s forces are in control of security in a “new phase” of sovereignty, as the US-led coalition mission ends, according to the Middle East Eye — and the country began a four-day holiday to mark the withdrawal of US and international troops after more than a decade fighting ISIL, according to Al Jazeera.
The Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr demanded compensation from the United States (US) for the damage caused by the occupation of Iraq and called on Iraqis to file legal complaints, in a statement on Wednesday, the deadline for American forces to end their 12-year presence in the country. In the same statement he hailed the “independence of Iraq”, according to Middle East Eye, and said the US and “neighbouring countries” must refrain from interfering in Iraqi affairs.
The last British and American troops have left Iraq, ending a military presence of more than a decade in the country, according to the BBC. The US military announced on Wednesday that it has completed the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq, ending a 12-year mission, according to France24. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said the end of the coalition’s mission marked Iraq’s transition to a phase in which it assumes full responsibility, according to the BBC.
The departure of United States (US) forces from Iraq, celebrated by Tehran and its allies as a victory, raises fears of a security vacuum, emboldened Iranian-backed militias and a regrouping Islamic State, according to France 24. A commander of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq described the withdrawal as a “historic victory” and a “crushing defeat for the American project”, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Hindu.
The United States has announced the withdrawal of its forces from Iraq, 23 years after the invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein, according to Middle East Eye. US forces are set to complete their withdrawal from their last military bases in Iraq by September 30, ending more than two decades of US military involvement, according to Deutsche Welle (DW), in a text published by Newscord. Iraq’s prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, said October 1 will be a new day in the course of the Iraqi state, with the country free of any foreign military presence and the completion of national sovereignty over its territory.
Iraqi Airways has resumed commercial flights between the central province of Najaf and Iranian airports, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency. The flights restarted on Monday after Najaf and three other Iraqi airports temporarily suspended flights over fears of secondary sanctions by the United States. Earlier in the day, Iran filed a formal complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) over US aviation sanctions, according to the official IRNA news agency.
All Iraqi airports enforced the US ban on Iranian airlines this week, causing major disruption at the airport serving the holy city of Najaf, the main destination for Iranian flights in Iraq, according to AFP, in a text published by Middle East Eye. The Iranian ambassador to Iraq said, according to ISNA, that there are roughly 25 daily flights from Iran to Najaf and about 15 to Baghdad, and that between 12,000 and 13,000 people travel between the two countries on Iranian airlines every day. The Iraqi government said on Saturday that it is holding direct talks with the United States to exempt some Iraqi airports from US Treasury measures against Iranian airlines flying to airports in the region, according to The National, seeking to free up flights on humanitarian grounds.
US-led coalition forces are scheduled to withdraw from facilities in Iraq’s Kurdistan region by September 30, 2026, under an agreement between Baghdad and Washington to wind down the coalition mission, according to Middle East Eye. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi told the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Friday, September 25, 2026, that the end of the international coalition’s mission would move Iraq’s relationship with its strategic partners from military cooperation to economic and development cooperation. Kurdistan region’s Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed Khalid told Anadolu Agency that coalition forces are withdrawing from Iraq, including its Kurdish region, on a daily basis and are expected to complete the pullout by the end of September 2026.
Iraq has reached an understanding with the United States to continue dollar cash shipments to the country, with a new shipment expected in the coming days, according to Middle East Eye. The point runs parallel to Iraqi talks on an exemption to resume flights with Iran.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s office asked the United States for an exemption to resume flights with Iran on humanitarian grounds related to medical treatment, education, religious visits and the interests of civilians, after four Iraqi airports suspended all flights to and from Iran on Friday, days after Washington announced new aviation sanctions on any global company doing business with Iranian airlines. On Saturday, demonstrators gathered in Baghdad against the suspensions, in a protest organised by Iran-allied militias, and the head of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Akram al-Kaabi, vowed to organize sit-ins at airports across the country unless normal air traffic resumes.
Iraq’s government is holding direct talks with the United States on an exemption for certain Iraqi airports from the U.S. ban on Iranian airlines. According to AFP, in a text republished by The Hindu, the exemption would allow flights to resume “for humanitarian reasons, including medical treatment, education, religious visits, and for the interest of civilians.” Four Iraqi airports had suspended all flights to and from Iran days after the United States announced new aviation sanctions on any global companies doing business with Iranian airlines; Iraqi state media said flights were no longer operating from Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil and Sulaimaniyah.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein noted the importance of international efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. Lavrov concluded his series of meetings at the U.N. General Assembly with talks with the deputy chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council.
Türkiye and Iraq agreed on a gradual handover of the Bashiqa-Zelikan base in northern Iraq to the Iraqi federal government, after a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), according to AP, via Business Standard. The joint statement says Turkish forces will hand over the base under a mechanism and timeline to be agreed by both sides, in light of progress on Iraq’s security measures, according to Türkiye Today. Iraq committed to fully extending state authority in Sinjar and ending the presence of banned foreign armed elements in the region.
Erbil and Sulaimaniya airports in Iraq suspended flights with Iran starting Friday, September 25, 2026, Reuters reported. Together with Baghdad and Najaf, four Iraqi airports have halted operations with the country. The move responds to U.S. sanctions announced against any company doing business with Iranian airlines after September 23. In Najaf, flights were halted before dawn on Friday by a directive from the prime minister’s office, the airport director told Al Arabiya.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that his country will not be an “arena for the conflicts of others” or a bargaining chip, and called for a ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal and all weapons to be held by the Lebanese state, according to Al Jazeera. In New York, Salam’s meetings have so far failed to secure Lebanon’s request for a six-month extension of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mandate, and Beirut has been pushing for an international force to fill the gap after the mission ends, according to Ya Libnan. In the same session, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falih Al-Zaidi called for a sovereign Palestinian state and said there can be no stability in the Middle East without a just solution to the Palestinian issue, according to Al Jazeera.
Ground-handling companies have stopped servicing Iraq-Iran flights at airports nationwide, bringing air travel between the two countries to a standstill, a source at Iraq’s Ministry of Transport told Shafaq News. Menzies Aviation and National Aviation Services (NAS) said they could no longer provide the services for fear of U.S. Treasury penalties — Washington sanctioned 36 entities in Iran’s aviation sector, including 27 airlines, on September 8. Erbil and Sulaimaniya airports, in Iraqi Kurdistan, also suspended flights with Iran, according to Middle East Eye.
Najaf International Airport suspended all flights to and from Iran from 7 p.m. EDT on Thursday, September 24, 2026 (2 a.m. Friday in Najaf), until further notice, on official instructions, Shafaq News reports. All inbound and outbound flights between Iran and Najaf were cancelled, leaving pilgrims stranded in Tehran, according to WANA.
Iran’s Oil Ministry said about 50% of the damaged capacity at the South Pars gas field has returned to service, after the Israeli strike of 18 March 2026 that halted output at two refineries in the Asaluyeh complex and cut Iranian gas flows to Iraq, as The National reported at the time. The deputy oil minister for planning said production in that section resumed by 22 September 2026 and that the recovery program will be completed before winter begins, according to Mehr News. The field supplies about 75% of the country’s gas consumption and underpins nearly 80% of its electricity generation, according to a report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty carried by GlobalSecurity.org.
Airports in Baghdad, Iraq, and Muscat, Oman, stopped accepting flights by Iranian carriers from midnight on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, when United States sanctions on Iran’s aviation sector took effect. The information comes from Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, cited by Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse (AFP). Iraq’s government ordered its civil aviation authority to suspend Iranian flights to Baghdad, according to two sources heard by Reuters, and is considering rerouting those services to Najaf, a pilgrimage destination. Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization is negotiating with Oman and says other international flights, including those to Istanbul, are operating as scheduled, according to the ISNA agency. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday, 21 September, that Iranian airlines would be barred from operating worldwide from 23 September under the threat of secondary sanctions on service providers: “you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” he told CNBC. Iran has 27 airlines, most of them domestic, and international routes are concentrated in Iran Air and Mahan Air. Analysts told Al Jazeera that Washington has no authority to close other countries’ airspace, and that cutting off fuel and ground handling achieves an equivalent effect.
In an interview with The New York Times published on Monday, Iraq’s prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, again promised to disarm Iran-backed militias, on the day he travelled to New York for the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, where he is expected to meet Donald Trump on the sidelines, according to government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi. The September 30 deadline is the same for the end of the US-led coalition mission in the country and for the handover of weapons held outside state control, a commitment al-Zaidi made to Trump in July. The government itself sends mixed signals: national security adviser Qasim al-Araji said in August that the date marks the coalition’s departure, not the deadline for handing over weapons, and the committee in charge of disarmament has no fixed deadline, according to The National. The commander-in-chief’s spokesperson, Sabah al-Numan, told state news agency Iraqi News Agency that September 30 is “a strategic turning point” and that from then on “any justification” for armed action outside state authority “disappears”. Among the factions the picture is equally split: Saraya al-Salam, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib Imam Ali have announced compliance and handed over part of their weapons, while Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada reject the deadline, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Iraqi outlet 964media. Iraq tried once before to concentrate weapons in state hands, after the 2011 US withdrawal, and the country slid into sectarian violence until Islamic State gained ground in 2014.
Kpler data cited by Reuters shows 22 tankers, mostly very large crude carriers, left the Strait of Hormuz in the week of September 13 carrying 42 million barrels of crude, with Saudi Arabia and Iraq accounting for 43% of the volume each. The VLCC Pinios was transferring 2 million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude off Fujairah on Monday to another VLCC, the New Constant, which is expected to head to China. Houthi attacks on Aramco’s East-West pipeline have pushed the Saudi state firm to increase exports through the strait this month, and there have been no visible loadings from the Red Sea port of Yanbu since September 16.