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Iraq and Turkey launch talks on long-term oil and gas framework agreement

Iraq and Turkey have announced the start of negotiations on a framework agreement for cooperation in oil and gas, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair and Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar met in Ankara on Friday.

A statement from Iraq’s Oil Ministry said the meeting discussed the proposed roadmap for enhancing bilateral cooperation in developing infrastructure for the oil and gas sectors, the petrochemical industry and trade in oil, gas and energy, INA said.

The push for a deeper strategic partnership follows severe disruptions to Iraqi oil exports, which collapsed by more than 80 percent after the war on Iran closed the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

To bypass these blockages, both nations are now leaning on alternative transit routes. In August, the two countries signed a one-year agreement between the Turkish state firm BOTAS and Iraq’s state oil companies SOMO and NOC to increase crude flows through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

As Iraqi and Turkish companies began their cooperation, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said in August that the two governments would work to “complete a framework agreement that includes sectors such as oil, electricity, water resources, and other areas of cooperation”.

Iraqi politician calls for complete restoration of airport access for Iranian flights

Ammar al‑Hakim, the leader of Iraq’s National Wisdom Movement, a Shia political party in the country’s ruling Coordination Framework alliance, has called on the government to restore access to all Iraqi airports for airlines from Iran.

On Friday, Iraq announced that it had agreed to let Iranian airlines, except Mahan Air, operate up to 40 flights a day to and from Najaf International Airport, saying the United States had granted an exemption from its sanctions on Iranian flights.

Iranian media reported Al-Hakim as saying that partially restoring access to Najaf “attests that dialogue and constructive diplomacy can solve unresolved cases, and surmount obstacles to serve the interests of Iraq”.

However, he urged the Iraqi civil aviation authorities to reopen all airports in the country to flights between the two countries.

Iran, Iraq resume flights to and from Najaf airport

Iranian and Iraqi airlines will resume flights between the two countries starting tomorrow, with permission granted to Iranian airliners to operate 40 flights per day to Iraq’s Najaf airport, Iran’s IRIB reports, citing the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization.

Iraq’s state news agency also reported that three evening flights were scheduled between the two countries, but said Mahan Air is excluded from the resumption.

Iraqi oil tanker company says 2 million barrels of crude transported through Strait of Hormuz

Iraq’s ⁠Oil Tankers Company has transported 2 ⁠million barrels of ⁠Iraqi crude aboard a very ‌large crude carrier (VLCC) through the Strait of Hormuz, its director general ⁠said in ⁠a statement.

The director general said the movement ⁠⁠was the ⁠⁠company’s first ⁠⁠such operation in decades.

Iran welcomes exit of US forces from Iraq, calls for Washington to be held accountable

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has congratulated the Iraqi government and people on the exit of US and other foreign forces from Iraq, in a statement posted on its Telegram channel.

The ministry called the withdrawal “a very important and necessary step” towards consolidating Iraq’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.

It accused the US 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”. It cited the killing of more than 1 million Iraqis, hundreds of billions of dollars in damage, abuses at Abu Ghraib prison and the rise of ISIL (ISIS).

The ministry also called for the US government to be held accountable for crimes committed during the occupation and paid tribute to Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who were killed in a US strike in Baghdad in 2020.