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Why the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is making a new start

After 16 years of upheaval in Iraq and five brutal years of war with the Islamic State terrorist group, a foe that imperiled all of humanity, we are embarking on a new journey toward building a stronger Kurdistan. The next four years will be a defining time for us, our neighbors and our allies in which we, the Kurdistan Regional Government, look past our recent traumas, consolidate our place in the region and secure a presence on the international stage. In short, we want to make a new start.

Last week, I formed a government to lead the Kurdistan region of Iraq. My mission is to change the way we do things, both at home and abroad. As prime minister, I will offer a different way of doing business that feeds off the challenges we’ve endured, builds on our achievements and responds to an evolving global dynamic.

The fight against the Islamic State, which we helped lead on behalf of the global community, has damaged us economically. The burden has become intolerable. The cost of war, federal budget cuts by the government in Baghdad and the mass movement of refugees to our lands has left us with billions of dollars in debt.
Throughout our hardships, we have remained a friend and ally of the West and a partner in the region. Since the Islamic State took over much of western Iraq and eastern Syria in mid-2014, we have shown that our fight against the terrorists was as much about protecting our allies as it was about safeguarding ourselves.

We have provided intelligence that has foiled terrorist attacks abroad and offered refuge to almost 2 million people fleeing persecution. We have clearly demonstrated our good faith as global citizens, sheltering Arabs, Kurds, Muslims, Yazidis, Christians, Turkmen and others. Ten kilometers from our parliament building is a thriving community of Christians, from all parts of the Middle East, who are building churches and worshiping in peace.

The cost of other refugees, however, is increasing and remains only partly funded. We cannot perform our role as hosts alone. We need to secure a future for the displaced and for ourselves, and we seek the help of our friends in the West in several ways.

Our challenges begin inside Iraqi Kurdistan, which has been our homeland throughout the ages. As prime minister, I will implement reforms that will adopt global best practices and bring accountability to all arms of our civil service and cabinet.

My government will create a diversified economy that delivers growing prosperity for all. We will enact legislation to make Kurdistan a welcoming and attractive location for investors. We will integrate and modernize our armed forces. And we will transform public services and tackle corruption to ensure that government serves the people, not the other way around. Engaging us politically and financially will be essential to this transformation, and I call on our friends to do so.

I will also take steps to reset the relationship between Irbil and Baghdad, which has remained fraught for the past 16 years. For most of that time we have essentially governed ourselves, though without breaking our tie with Iraq.

By agreement, we have received a quota of the Iraqi budget. But the allocations are rarely delivered in full. It is time for a more constructive and stable partnership with Baghdad. This week I made my first visit as prime minister to Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, taking with me proposals to settle the disputes between us over oil, territory, budgets and the role of our armed forces. I want to ensure that our agreements are honored through a fair distribution of budget proceeds. A resolution would offer the bedrock for future cooperation. Our future is wedded to a secure and democratic Iraq.

In 2017, Iraqi Kurdistan held a referendum on independence. The ballot was nonbinding, but an overwhelming 93 percent of people voted in favor. While we would have welcomed greater support from the international community for our right to self-determination, our priority now is to create a strong, stable Kurdistan region anchored within the international community. We ask those whom we helped protect to acknowledge the constructive global role we have played by helping us build our economy.

Over many generations of conflict, every family in Iraqi Kurdistan has suffered a personal loss. We can no longer relinquish solidarity, or squander the sacrifices made by so many, through returning to the squabbling that plagued relationships between parties and neighbors.

We have many friends in the international community who wish us well, but it is time to do more. We reaffirm our role as honest brokers trusted by all. We do this through the prism of true friendship, having displayed our steadfast support for the interests of our allies, including the United States, and a commitment to democratic values. We need our friends to help us start again.

Despite crises, we remained steadfast, reformed, and developed the economy: PM Barzani

Erbil (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani spoke candidly on various topics relating to his premiership and the situation in the Kurdistan Region in an interview with Sky News Arabic aired on Sunday night. 

“Despite the crises, we remained steadfast, made reforms, and developed the economy,” Barzani told Sky News TV. 

The prime minister recalled that when the ninth cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) entered office, circumstances were tough. It had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, low oil prices, and bad relations with Baghdad. 

“Despite all of that, we were able to remain steadfast, and we started making reforms,” Barzani said. “We resumed work on projects, and we were able to develop the security and economy of the region.” 

Below are some of the noteworthy topics the prime minister discussed: 

Relations with Baghdad

“The relations with Baghdad have been improving, but the problems have not been completely solved,” Barzani said. “For four years Baghdad’s government didn’t send the budget to the Kurdistan Region, and the region had to take loans from oil traders, local businessmen, and even the Iraqi Central Bank.”

“This led to the accumulation of billions of dollars in loans that my cabinet inherited.”

Barzani pointed out that despite all of these problems, his cabinet was able to continue distributing salaries for public service employees and take big steps in the development of the region.

“We worked step by step to gradually fix our relations with Baghdad,” Barzani said. “We have a good relationship with Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, and we look forward to strengthening it.” 

Corruption

“We never said that the Kurdistan Region is free of corruption, but the level of corruption that has existed in the region is way lower than the level of corruption in the rest of Iraq,” the prime minister said.

Ending this corruption, he added, “is our top priority.” 

Prime Minister Barzani also pointed out that the level of corruption has notably decreased in the autonomous region. 

Kurdish migrants 

The prime minister said he is observing the migrant crisis in Europe closely. He pointed out that the issue has two sides, a political one and a humanitarian one. 

“I can assure that none of those migrants went to Belarus because of corruption or having pressure on them,” Barzani said.

The prime minister pointed out that the migrants had paid smugglers thousands of dollars to go to Belarus, where they were then exploited and used by Belarus’s government to pressure the European Union. 

He added that the migrants are going to Europe in search of better opportunities and “not because of poverty” in the Kurdistan Region. 

“A lot of foreigners come to work in Kurdistan,” Barzani noted. 

He also pointed out that the autonomous region is hosting more than 1.5 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) who sought shelter there because of its security and stability. 

“Thousands of migrants from Asia, Iran, Turkey, and other parts of Iraq have come to work in Kurdistan,” Barzani said. “Those who went to Belarus didn’t go there because they can’t find jobs here; they went there because they were tricked by smugglers and used for political purposes.” 

“I’m very saddened by their humanitarian situation,” he added, reiterating that the Kurdistan Region stands ready to cooperate with the Iraqi government to return them. 

“Hundreds of them have already received our help to come home.” 

October elections

The prime minister acknowledged that the turnout in Iraq’s parliamentary October parliamentary elections was low. 

“People were hopeless, and there were technical challenges too,” he said of those elections. 

He went on to explain that some of those who received a lot of votes did not win a lot of seats in parliament for their parties. That is because Iraq is now divided into numerous constituencies. As a result, political parties that did not have a good election plan didn’t win enough seats. 

“We hope everyone respects the result of the elections,” Barzani said. 

The militia’s rejection of the elections’ results

“We condemned the terrorist attack on Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi. We expressed our support to him, and we are waiting for the result of the investigations,” Prime Minister Barzani said of the assassination attempt against the Iraqi leader early this month.

“So far, it is not known who was behind the attack.”

“Those who stand against the election process and call for repeating it will take Iraq backward,” Barzani warned.

“There is no way we accept revoking the elections’ result, and those who didn’t get the result they wished for should still respect the final results.” 

Iraq’s presidency position 

“This position is for Kurds,” Barzani said of the Iraqi presidency. “However, so far, no decision has been made about the candidate.”

He pointed out that traditionally Iraq’s Shia parties nominate a candidate for prime minister, the Sunnis nominate a candidate for the position of parliament speaker while the Kurds nominate the presidential candidate.

“We are waiting to know who is the Shia candidate,” he said. “I hope the candidate is someone who is accepted by everyone.” 

Relations with the United States

“We have a good relationship with the American administration,” the prime minister said. “As a friend and as an ally, the Americans helped us toppling the Ba’ath’s regime in 2003, helped us with our fight against ISIS, and we hope to continue having good relations with them.” 

Barzani also expressed his hope that the United States and the coalition forces stay in Iraq to help the country with its economic and security challenges. 

“Iraq is unable to face the current economic and security threats alone,” he said.

Relations with the PUK

“We have good relations with all political parties, including the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which is a primary partner with us in the government,” the prime minister said.

“Our relation with them is based on Kurdistan’s interests.”

Refugees and IDPs

Prime Minister Barzani warned that if Iraq once again becomes destabilized, that will harm the Kurdistan Region. On the other hand, if Iraq develops economically, that will have a positive impact on Kurdistan. 

“We are part of Iraq, and together with Iraq, we have to face challenges,” Barzani said. “If the security situation deteriorates in Iraq, refugees and displaced people will come to the Kurdistan Region.” 

The prime minister pointed out that the autonomous region hosts more than a million Iraqi IDPs and 250,000 Syrian refugees. He said that this situation causes a lot of problems for the region.

“Unfortunately, the international community has not been helping us enough in this regard, and Baghdad also didn’t help us,” Barzani said. “These people need help. I don’t know why Baghdad is not helping them.”

Barzani affirmed that the region’s doors have always been open for them [refugees and IDPs], even when Baghdad cut the Kurdistan Region’s budget. 

The ISIS threat

“ISIS is everywhere, especially in the disputed areas,” the prime minister said. “ISIS lost its territories but still has large numbers of fighters.” 

Barzani warned that ISIS has also recruited additional fighters, especially in western Iraq and the disputed territories.

“ISIS continuously launches attacks on Peshmerga and the Iraqi forces,” he added. 

Iraq’s future 

“The Iraqi components seek a bright future within Iraq, where nobody oppresses them,” Barzani said. 

He emphasized that oppression in Iraq can end if all different parties work together and abide by the constitution. 

“What is lost in Iraq is trust,” Barzani said. “We need to regain trust.” 

“What we expect from Iraq’s friends is to help Iraq by respecting its sovereignty.”

He also said that friends of Iraq should respect the will and decisions of Iraqis and not impose agendas on them. 

Regarding Iraq’s revenues, Barzani said that the courts in Baghdad should decide what to do about corruption in Iraq. 

“They all know that Iraq’s revenues are getting looted, and it is the court who should identify who is looting it,” he said. 

Iran’s role in Iraq

Regarding Iran’s role in Iraq, Barzani said the government in Baghdad needs to evaluate the situation, know what influence neighboring countries have on Iraq, and decide whether or not that influence is acceptable.

“In the Kurdistan Region, we have our own policy in this regard, and we don’t accept any intervention from the neighboring countries,” Barzani said. “We want to have the best relations with our neighboring countries, but we never accept to be influenced by neighboring or foreign countries.” 

“I hope the same policy is applied in Baghdad,” he added. 

An Iraqi or a Kurd?

“I was asked this question before, and I said I’m Kurdish and proud,” Barazani said. “And I live in Iraq.” 

The prime minister said that Iraq is the state and the Kurdistan Region is a federal entity within that state.

“We have a federal entity within Iraq called the Kurdistan Region, which is the reality right now,” Barzani said. “Kurdistan, like any other nation, has the right to obtain its rights and its independence.” 

“However, today’s reality is that we are a region within Iraq, and we do our best to have better relations with Baghdad,” he added. 

'You don’t solve issues by running away,' says Iraq's KRG PM

SALAHUDDIN — Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG), says that political and economic disputes should be resolved within the KRG Council of Ministers, not by Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) ministers boycotting the government.  

“I hope they will eventually come back to the government,” said Barzani, who is a deputy president of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), in an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with Al-Monitor at his office in Salahuddin.  
“They [the PUK ministers] have sworn an oath before the parliament, before the people of Kurdistan,” he said. “You don’t solve issues by running away, by not shouldering responsibility.” 

The KDP and the PUK, as well as the Gorran (Change) Party, form a coalition government in the Kurdistan Region.  The KDP holds 45 seats in the Kurdistan Regional parliament; the PUK holds 21, and Gorran 12 in the 111 seat chamber. 

The PUK has boycotted KRG Council of Ministers meetings since October 2022. 
The real reason for the impasse, said Barzani, is the murder of Hawker Abdullah Rasoul, a former PUK intelligence officer, in Erbil last year. 

“The PUK has not been cooperative,” in the case, he noted, and to shift focus away from the assassination, “they are exaggerating other problems, like financial and power-sharing issues. These have always existed.” 

“Rather than mixing all the issues together, they need to focus on solving the political and financial issues through the Council of Ministers and let the courts and legal system handle the murder case,” he added. 
“I have officially asked the PUK, during the Cabinet of Ministers meetings, to return to the government,” said Barzani.  “So, I hope they come back to the government and discuss whatever concerns they have.  We can solve any issues through dialogue in the council’s meetings. There is no other way.”  

'Nothing should be at the expense of delaying elections'
The schism has a sense of urgency because parliamentary elections, which had been scheduled for last year, have been postponed, a delay which could, over time, undercut the legality of KRG political institutions, as the prime minister’s father, KDP President Masoud Barzani, told  Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview earlier this week. 
“For all political parties, whatever their problems are, they have to look at different ways of settling their issues, but nothing should be at the expense of delaying the elections,” the prime minister said. “The elections must happen this year.”   

The US should take credit for the Kurdistan Region’s success 
The Kurdistan Region has been a close partner of the United States before, during, and after, the US war to overthrow former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. 

Barzani’s personal and professional ties with the United States run deep. He is an honors graduate of the American University in Washington, where he established the Barzani Scholar-in-Residence program. As general director of the Protection and Intelligence Agency, and later as chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council, overseeing security, military intelligence and existing intelligence services, he worked closely with American counterparts in the fight against terrorism, including and especially the Islamic State (IS) after 2014. 

“We want better relations, more engagement, more investment. The Kurds and the US share common values and principles. We are a natural ally and hoped for more support,” Barzani said, speaking about current ties with the United States.

“The US should be promoting and take credit for all the success of the Kurdistan Region due to their direct and positive engagement,” he noted. “The Kurdistan Region should be used as an example of the positive role that the US can play in the region. Without their direct engagement over the past 30 years, we would not have all you see today. It’s an economic success story.” 

“The US did a great job liberating Iraq from tyranny and the brutal dictatorship,” he said. “But  over the years, the influence of US engagement has declined. In its absence, other actors have filled the vacuum, which has not been helpful.”  

“We want the US to consider Kurdistan as a strong, credible ally, and recognize us as a friend that shares the same values and principles,” said Barzani. “We are regularly paying a heavy price for that friendship. We need more support: politically, economically and security.” 

“There are great opportunities in the Kurdistan Region for more US investment,” he added.  “We are rich in natural resources and human resources. Potential for growth is beneficial to both the Kurdish people and US companies.”  
'China is looking at the entire Middle East'

Regarding the China-brokered Saudi-Iranian agreement, Barzani said that “any initiative to ease tensions in the region is welcomed. We support any initiatives to bring peace and dialogue to resolve issues.” 

“China is looking at the entire Middle East, and expanding their influence in many countries in the region. Their proposals and their promises to deliver is very tempting. Here [in the Kurdistan Region], they have made some proposals and there are some discussions about doing some projects.” 

'Positive atmosphere' in talks with Baghdad 

Barzani noted a “positive atmosphere” regarding talks that led this week to the Iraq Council of Ministers submitting a budget to the Federal Council of Representatives, or parliament, which includes a 12.6% allocation for the Kurdistan Region.

“There has been great improvement on the budget negotiations,” said Barzani. “It’s not exactly what we wanted, but I think it's a workable budget.”

Iraq had been operating without a budget since 2021, and under an emergency food security law since last year.   
‘The whole country will benefit from it,” said Barzani. “We have already expressed our support to this budget. I hope that parliament will pass it as is. This will be the beginning of a much more constructive relationship, not only between the KRG and Baghdad, but also between Baghdad and other provinces, and to start a new economic revitalization.”

Barzani noted that the "positive atmosphere” in the budget talks could facilitate progress toward a long elusive national oil law, noting that many of the problems of the past were “politically motivated.” 
“There were some drafts in the past, but they were never passed by the parliament,” he said. 

For Barzani and the KRG, the key is that a national hydrocarbon law reflects the Kurdistan Region’s rights in the Iraqi Constitution. “We have said many times that we will work with the federal government to implement the constitution as written. The hydrocarbon law must be consistent with the Kurdistan Region's rights in the constitution,” said Barzani. “Preserving our rights will be our priority. I think there is a way forward to find a solution that’s workable for both Baghdad and Erbil.” 

'You have to deal with the root causes of terrorism'

Barzani said that the security situation in the Kurdistan Region, and throughout Iraq, “is better than before, and that’s a good step. Cooperation is important.”
Iraq had been ravaged by terrorist groups following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, where al-Qaeda took hold and later IS overran more than half the country in 2014.
Barzani cited “a much better relationship” between Iraqi Kurdish and federal Iraqi security forces, including joint operations against IS, for improvement in security.  
He also said that the threat of terrorism in Iraq and elsewhere remains. 
“You have to deal with the root causes of terrorism,” said Barzani, “and unfortunately, I think those have not been properly addressed.”
Those root causes include poverty, injustice and inequality. People need proper government services and a decent life, Barzani explained.  

“If the government provides for its people, cares for its people, listens to its people, engages with its people, there is less tendency for people to collaborate with terrorist organizations,” he said. “You also have to fight the ideology of terrorists by introducing a more moderate ideology that gives people incentives and hope for a brighter future.”  
“Otherwise this will be a never ending cycle,” Barzani added. 

An aggressive reform agenda 

“My Cabinet has embarked on an ambitious and aggressive reform program and creating more transparency in government spending, procurement and banking,” said Barzani.  
“We are diversifying our economy, focusing on expanding our agricultural products, industry and tourism. We are reforming our education and health sectors, and digitalizing government services for our citizens. We have built a state-of-the-art data center, connecting all the projects electronically in a short period of time. We want to be a fully digital government by 2025,” he said. 

As a sign of this diversification, the Kurdistan Region has expanded agricultural exports. The #Hanar project is sending organic Kurdish pomegranates abroad, which arrived in the Gulf this month. These are the first ever agricultural exports from the Kurdistan Region. Kurdish pomegranates, for which Kurdistan is famous, are now available in four new markets via some of the biggest retailers in the region, opening up new trade opportunities in the Gulf, and creating hundreds of jobs in the Kurdistan Region. The KRG plans to expand this initiative to export other agricultural products including honey, apples and grapes in the near future.     

A sign of the KRG’s digitization initiative is an electronic payment system for government employees to be completed in two years. Another project is to engage more banks that meet standards for both the US Treasury Department and the Central Bank of Iraq to transform a cash economy to a more transparent electronic banking system. In addition, the KRG has instituted an online visa system and electronic accounts and records for all public and private schools, to be easily accessed by parents.  

Taking action on climate change 

Climate change is also central to KRG economic, energy and foreign investment strategy. 
“We realize the impact of climate change on our region, and we are taking action,” said Barzani. “In Kurdistan, we have done so much that many people don’t know about. It’s an important story to share.” 
“We are investing in hydropower, clean energy and solar energy. We are looking at alternative energy, not just fossil fuels,” he noted.

Barzani discussed plans to build small, medium and relatively large dams to better manage and preserve river waters.  

“I think engagement in this field, helping us build this infrastructure, build dams to preserve our water resources, will  eventually pay off in the long run,” he said. 

The Kurdistan Region is also ahead of the curve on captured flared gas, a major polluter and contributor to climate change. 

“We are the first place in Iraq to capture flared gas. Rather than continue to waste it, we want to transform into energy," said Barzani. “And we have a very aggressive program, talking to all the International Oil Companies and other partners about reducing flared gas emissions.”


In letter to Biden, Barzani warns of Iraqi Kurdistan's collapse, urges mediation

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has appealed to President Joe Biden to intervene in a deepening crisis with the central government in Baghdad, airing fears that the Kurdistan Region might even collapse as an entity if the crisis is left unchecked, Al-Monitor has learned.
In a letter dated Sept. 3 that was addressed to Biden and delivered to the White House only this past Sunday, Barzani wrote, “I write to you now at another critical juncture in our history, one that I fear we may have difficulty overcoming. …[W]e are bleeding economically and hemorrhaging politically. For the first time in my tenure as prime minister, I hold grave concerns that this dishonorable campaign against us may cause the collapse of … the very model of a Federal Iraq that the United States sponsored in 2003 and purported to stand by since.”
“We believe that your administration retains significant leverage with Baghdad,” Barzani said of Washington’s ability to diffuse the crisis.

The cri de coeur comes amid escalating tensions between Erbil and Baghdad over budgetary allocations, oil sales and territories that both sides claim for their own. Barzani reiterated his calls for further US engagement to help resolve the disputes in a meeting on Monday in Erbil with US Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski.
With Washington’s attention focused on China and the conflict in Ukraine, Barzani’s letter is meant to jolt the administration into action before a descent into violence.

That very specter loomed in the contested oil-rich province of Kirkuk last week when Kurds and Arabs allegedly bused in by Iran-backed Shiite militia groups clashed over a court decision preventing Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq (KDP) from reclaiming its headquarters in the regional capital. Four Kurds died in the protests that were eventually quelled by federal forces deployed to the city.

“We are asking where the hell is the United States,” said a Kurdish official speaking not for attribution to Al-Monitor.
The State Department declined to comment on the letter. A White House official speaking on background said, “We do not comment on private diplomatic engagements.” The White House had not responded to Barzani’s letter as of the time of publication of this article.
Broken promises, broken trust

Since US forces birthed the creation of a putatively democratic Iraq with the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the sides have tussled over what share of Iraq’s budget should go to the Kurds, with successive governments in Baghdad typically failing to hand over the amount of money agreed to at any given time. This, in turn, has left the KRG struggling to pay public sector employees who are due $625 million every month.

In recent years, the refusal has stemmed from Baghdad’s view that the Iraqi Kurds have since 2014 been “illegally” selling Iraqi oil produced in the Kurdistan Region via Turkey without the central government’s consent. Iraq took the matter to an international court of arbitration, and Turkey was slapped with a $1.5 billion fine earlier this year when the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce ruled in Baghdad’s favor. In response, Turkey halted the flow of some 400,000 barrels per day of Kurdish crude and a further 75,000 barrels per day of Iraqi crude from the Kirkuk fields. Ankara is demanding that Baghdad waive the fine and drop another arbitration case pending against it in order to resume exports from the Turkish port of Ceyhan, leaving the Kurds deprived of at least $5 billion in revenue since exports ceased.

The KRG has since agreed in Barzani’s words to make “extraordinary concessions in the negotiations with Baghdad in the hope of securing our future.” However, Barzani told Biden, “I regret to inform you that they have done the opposite. Our goodwill in agreeing to market our oil through the federal government in return for a just share of the federal budget has been blatantly forsaken.”

The figure for oil revenues promised to the Kurdistan Region following talks in April between Barzani and Baghdad was $900 million per month. Yet the federal government has parted with far less, even as the Kurds have sent Baghdad the 85,000 barrels of crude every day pledged under that deal without receiving a penny for it, Kurdish officials say. On Sept. 2, federal authorities informed the KRG they would be willing to disburse $380 million per month in loans.

Iraqi Kurdish officials have long aired frustration at what they say is the United States’ growing indifference to their plight, with letters going unanswered and senior US officials no longer engaging with the same frequency as they did under the previous administration when, for instance, the energy secretary would have monthly telephone calls with Barzani.

“The American mantra is ‘we are not an occupying force anymore,’” the official briefing Al-Monitor said. “The basis of our engagement in the post-2003 order was entirely predicated on the agreement that the United States would act as the guarantor of the federal model. And up until [the full US withdrawal in] 2011, when that line was tested, the Americans would step in. The Americans were the guarantors, the honest brokers.” The official explained, “We are asking the United States to take a principled position on the agreement we had at the beginning [in 2005] on three key issues: oil, the budget and territory."
“Shotgun wedding, amicable divorce”
Ken Pollack, a former CIA intelligence analyst and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has written extensively on Iraq, agrees that the status quo is unsustainable and could lead to renewed civil conflict in Iraq. A weaker Iraq means a stronger Iran, which goes against US interests.

But Washington’s interest in the country has taken a back seat to other pressing files. “Is Iraq a bigger priority for the United States than, say, Saudi-Israeli rapprochement? It’s hard to say that it is,” Pollack told Al-Monitor.
Yet while the Kurds “get it intellectually,” Pollack contended, “emotionally they don’t.” They very much want to believe that the United States is still fully committed. Preserving that impression at the very least will cause Baghdad, Iran and the Kurds’ other large meddlesome neighbor, Turkey, to back off. Either way, Pollack concluded that the best solution for Iraq and the Kurds was an amicable divorce. “It was a shotgun wedding to begin with,” Pollack said.

An administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to Al-Monitor noted that the KDP and its chief rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), needed to settle their own disputes “before pointing fingers at us.” The two parties went to war in the early 1990s, and the distrust runs so deep that they have yet to unify their respective peshmerga forces under a single command. Rampant corruption — with much of Kurdistan’s wealth concentrated in the hands of the Barzanis and the Talabani family that runs the PUK — is feeding popular disaffection and dampening dreams of independence. At the same time, mounting repression of journalists has dented the Kurdistan Region’s claims that it is “the other” and hence better Iraq.

**An Iranian hand**

Many see Iran’s hand in the unfolding row between the KRG and Baghdad. With a large restive Kurdish minority of its own, Iran sees neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan and its pro-American leadership as a threat.
Tehran’s attempts to weaken the KRG through its Iraqi Shiite allies have gained vigor since 2017 when the KRG held a referendum on independence that was fiercely opposed by Ankara, Baghdad and Washington. The ensuing volatility allowed federal troops to retake control of Kirkuk and other disputed territories the Kurds seized as Iraqi forces fled the Islamic State onslaught in 2014. The central government has since been doggedly seeking to tighten its grip.

Iran is now threatening to attack the Kurdistan Region once again should it fail to disarm Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in Kurdish territory by Sept. 19. The date coincides with the first anniversary of the mass protests that rocked Iran following the death in police custody of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini. Iran blames the Iranian Kurdish opposition parties and their alleged Western backers — namely America and Israel — for the demonstrations, although the parties themselves admit they are weak and have little if any impact inside the Islamic Republic.

James F. Jeffrey, a former US ambassador to Iraq who chairs the Wilson Center’s Middle East program, contended that Iran was clearly using an “all elements of power” strategy to assume effective control of Iraq, following “the Lebanon model” whereby it relies on Shiite militias and their political arms that are loyal to itself rather than Baghdad. The Trump administration, Jeffrey argued, “pushed back on this Iranian strategy by inventorying all the ways the United States and more generally the West and its institutions were important to Iraq and then threatened to start sending them down if the Iraqi government didn’t take specific steps we detailed to push back on specific Iranian or militia tentacles inside government structures.”

The Biden administration, by contrast, “doesn’t seem to be doing anything in this regard,” likely because it doesn’t want to provoke Iran as it seeks to revive the nuclear deal.
Amos Hochstein, special presidential coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security, for example, has not been to Iraqi Kurdistan since January, Jeffrey recalled. “This is the most current and most dramatic result of the US maintaining its hands-off approach.”

“Behind all the specifics, it’s Iran dictating Iraqi government positions to ensure no deal will be realized that would get oil flowing again and that keeps the KRG afloat — exactly what Iran wants to ruin,” Jeffrey added.


KRG announces first honey exports to Qatar

As part of the KRG’s agenda to diversify the economy, support farmers, and empower the private sector, two tons of Kurdistan’s premium honey were delivered to Qatar by air today.

An additional ton has been sold to local and national retailers in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, further supporting Kurdistan’s hardworking beekeepers. It will appear on the shelves next month.

This effort, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the private sector, has involved more than 200 beekeepers, supported and created nearly 100 jobs, and established new relationships with retailers in new markets in Qatar and the Gulf more generally. The honey has been harvested from beehives across the Kurdistan Region.

The KRG believes that this initiative, led by a passionate local company, will become a basis for more exports and create new bilateral trade opportunities between the Kurdistan Region and the Gulf.

As prime minister, I will implement reforms that will adopt global best practices and bring accountability to all arms of our civil service and cabinet.

It's not about the majority and minority, it's about the diversity of communities and religions and ethnicities. Everybody's equal in Kurdistan.

A stronger Kurdistan means equal, safe and prosperous future for all women and girls. 

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