The application of the ASYCUDA system and the new customs tariff will improve the earnings of Iraq's General Authority of Customs .

Acquiring KM-SAMs in the near future and Meteor-armed Rafales in the foreseeable future will provide Iraq with the most capable national air defense its had in 35 years.

The Iraqi cabinet has approved nationalising the petroleum operations in the West Qurna 2 oil field, in accordance with the provisions of a service contract signed with Russia's Lukoil, the government said in a statement.

Iraq starts 2026 with a difficult combination of political upheaval, ambitious development goals, and ongoing security, regional, and environmental constraints, while public attention is also focused on

Formation of the new government will have to tread a fine line to satisfy domestic and international pressures.

The new speaker must address a much-debated bill that would have the Hashd al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Units — an umbrella group of Iraqi Shiite militias largely backed by Iran — become a formal security institution under the state. Iran-backed armed groups have growing political influence.

Iraq's new parliament elected a senior figure from the Sunni Taqadom party as its speaker Monday, the first session since November elections that consolidated the main parties' grip on power.

Iraq's parliament elected Sunni Muslim lawmaker Haibat al-Halbousi as speaker at its opening session on Monday following November's national election, launching a process to form a new government that often takes months.

Political factions in Iraq have been maneuvering since the parliamentary election more than a month ago to form alliances that will shape the next government.

Iraq has long had the reserves, technology, and partners to capture flared gas, but political alignment in Baghdad and rising Western sanctions pressure will determine whether this effort delivers real change or repeats past delays.