Key Takeaways:
Iran’s Security Chief Lobbies To Keep Abdul-Mahdi In Office; Three Killed, Dozens Injured In New Violence Against Protesters; Iraq Braces For Financial Crisis As Oil Drops; Seven-Member Committee To Select New PM – On March 7, the head of Iran’s National Security Council arrived in Baghdad for meetings with Iraqi leaders, reportedly to convince them to let Adil Abdul-Mahdi stay in office until early elections. On March 8-9, there were new clashes between Iraqi protesters and government in central Baghdad, in which at least three protesters were killed and 58 were injured, including 11 members of the security forces. Renewed clashes near Khilani injured at least another seven protesters on March 10 and another ten on March 11. On March 8, a member of the parliamentary legal committee pointed to several obstacles that government needs to address before Iraq could hold early elections. These include the difficulty of agreeing on the borders of electoral district, among which are disputed territories, and the likelihood that political parties will “try to stall to keep the resigned government and exploit it…at any cost.” On March 8, a member of Parliament from Salah ad-Din province accused the Peace Brigades militia of Moqtada al-Sadr of bringing in Iranian pilgrims to religious shrines in the province despite a government ban on the entry of foreign visitors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. On March 9, the financial adviser to the Iraqi prime minister called for adopting “an emergency budget” to deal with the possible impact of a prolonged decline in oil prices. The adviser warned that if oil prices were to stay below $30 per barrel then the initial $50 billion deficit in the 2020 budget, based on $56 per barrel, would nearly double. On March 10, political sources reported that the Shia political parties have set up a committee of seven members to select a new candidate to be the next the prime minister after Mohammed Allawi withdrew his nomination on March 1. The seven members are drawn from the Saeroun, Fatah, Hikma, Nasr, State of Law Ataa and Fadhila blocs. more…
Two U.S. Marines Killed During Iraqi Operation That Killed 25 ISIS Members; Gunmen Kill Two Activists, Abduct Journalist; Militia Rocket Attack On Iraqi Base Kills One British, Two American Coalition Members – On March 5, three rockets struck in different parts of Baghdad, including the Green Zone, without causing casualties. On March 7, an IED wounded three Iraqi oil workers near an oil field south of Mosul. On March 8, an IED wounded a civilian in western Anbar. On March 8, the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service, aided by U.S. Marines, killed 25 ISIS militants in northern Iraq. Two U.S. Marines were also killed in the operation. On March 9, an under-vehicle IED wounded two civilians in Baghdad. On March 9, gunmen kidnapped journalist Tawfiq al-Tamimi while on his way to work at the state-owned al-Sabah newspaper. On March 10, gunmen killed activist Abdul-Qudous Qasim and lawyer Karrar Adel in Maysan province. On March 9, an IED struck the residence of a former governor of Basra, injuring two civilians. On March 10, the head of U.S. Central Command stated that the U.S. was sending “air defense systems and ballistic missile defense systems” into Iraq to protect U.S. personnel in the country “against another potential Iranian attack.” On March 11, a barrage of 15 rockets struck Camp Taji north of Baghdad. The attack killed one British and two U.S. servicemembers. The U.S. accused Iraqi militias supported by Iran of executing the attack. Shortly afterwards, airstrikes targeted a base used by Iran-backed factions within the PMF in the Albu Kamal area near the Iraq-Syria border, killing up to 25 PMF members. The Kataib Hezbollah militia issued a statement “blessing” the attack on Taji, adding that “now was the time to resume jihadi operations against the evildoers.” On March 12, two injured two civilians in eastern Baghdad. more…
Authorities Order Offices And Shops Shut, Restrict Travel As Coronavirus Cases Increase; Iraq’s Coronavirus Mortality Rate “Highest” In The World – On March 9, authorities in Basra suspended working hours in all local government offices, excluding the health and security departments, until March 22, after the province recorded its first fatality. Authorities in the nearby Maysan province took similar measures in the Salam subdistrict, where another fatality was reported on March 8. In Baghdad, security authorities ordered all coffee shops in the busy commercial district of Karrada to shut down. Meanwhile, Najaf banned the entry of visitors from countries with reported outbreaks. On March 6, the Iraqi government expanded the travel bans in places to include a total of 11 countries. On March 10, the Kurdistan region prohibited entry to travelers arriving from other areas of Iraq, except for those who have a valid six-month KRI residency permit, until further notice. In Sulaymaniyah, the city’s mayor asked residents to stay at home, while the governor of Duhok prohibited residents from traveling to other provinces. On March 10, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) mentioned that there were suspected infections among the residents of an IDP camp in Ninewa province. Authorities are concerned that coronavirus could spread rapidly in the overcrowded camps. On March 11, Iraq’s total fatalities from the coronavirus increased to eight after four five men died in Karbala, Maysan, Basra, and Babylon. There were 74 total reported cases in Iraq as of writing. Local officials said the mortality rate from coronavirus in Iraq stood at 10%, making it the “highest in the world.”
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For more background on most of the institutions, key actors, political parties, and locations mentioned in our takeaways or in the stories that follow, see the ISHM Reference Guide.