Iraq has signed $1.1 billion worth of deals to construct new power plants with both Iranian and Chinese firms.
Exactly how the two countries with massive demand gaps of their own are going to help supply Iraq’s power sector remains to be seen, but as James Glanz of The New York Times reports, the first step as been taken and the deals signed.
Earlier this month, Iraq’s Electricity Minister said it had billions to spend, if anyone was interested.
And while any investment is good investment according to the Iraq Electricity Ministry, the White House is viewing it with caution.
The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq has condemned the Kurdistan Regional Government’s deal with Hunt oil.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, visiting Iran, claims at least part of the Iraq war was to “control” oil.
Meanwhile, Iraq still faces a growing threat of Turkish invasion. The extent, and reality, of such an act as Turkey attempts to combat attacks from the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), based in the northern Iraq mountains, has yet to be realized.
But Iraq’s Kurd citizens are calling for dialogue, and claim the Turkish move is more to oppress the Kurds than to stop a terrorist group, Yahya Barzanji reports for AP.
Iran and Syria also have Kurdish populations and, along with Turkey, warn against any strength, autonomy or independence for Iraq’s Kurds which may lead to a regional Kurdish independence movement. This is the backdrop to the Turkey-PKK fight.
Syria has backed a Turkish invasion, AFP reports.
In Iraq’s south, the most overlooked story effects nearly all of Iraq’s oil exports and most of the production.
The militias of Shiite political parties, as well as other gangs, thugs and militias, are angling for control in the area. Many, according to a new U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Report, detailed by Mark Seibel of McClatchy Newspapers, are getting support from Iran.
The Council on Foreign Relations has an analysis on two KEY issues Iraqis face right now: Iraq’s Forgotten Refugees and the Cholera outbreak.
The Iraq Press Roundup by UPI’s Hiba Dawood.
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