Tishwash: Activating the joint strategic framework on the table of the foreign ministers of Iraq and Turkey
Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein confirmed, today, Thursday (August 15, 2024), that he discussed with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, ways to activate the strategic framework agreement between the two countries.
Hussein said in a post on the “X” platform, which was followed by “Baghdad Today”, “Today we held a fruitful meeting with our friend Hakan Fidan,” indicating that “the meeting discussed frameworks for enhancing joint cooperation between our two countries.”
He added, “During the meeting, we discussed ways to activate the strategic framework agreement that was signed during President Erdogan’s visit to Baghdad,” noting that “the two parties stressed the importance of deepening bilateral relations in a way that serves common interests link
Tishwash: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reveals the postponement of the announcement of the end of the international coalition’s military mission in Iraq
Today, Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the postponement of the announcement of the end of the international coalition’s military mission.
The Ministry stated, in a statement received by the “Al-Ma’louma” Agency, that “there are no American forces in Iraq except for the military advisors who are under the umbrella of the international coalition.” These advisors are included in the outcomes of the work of the Supreme Military Committee, and the two parties are committed to the established mechanisms and their outcomes.”
He added, “The work of the Supreme Military Committee focused during the past months on assessing the threat of ISIS with the aim of reaching a deadline to end the military mission of Operation Inherent Resolve, and on this basis, the presence of international coalition advisors of all nationalities on Iraqi soil will be ended.”
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry pointed out that “these discussions included details that included the hierarchy of advisors’ withdrawal from the sites, and all that remained agreement on the details and date of the announcement and some other logistical aspects,” noting that “we were very close to announcing this agreement, but due to recent developments, Postponing the announcement of the end of the international coalition’s military mission in Iraq.”
He pointed out that “the bilateral relationship with the United States in all fields, including the security relationship, is completely separate from the path of the relationship with the international coalition forces.” This relationship existed before the coalition and will continue after it, and the Iraqi delegation discussed the future of the security relationship in the areas of training, arming, equipping and cooperation.” Security, in light of what is permitted by the Iraqi Constitution and the framework of the strategic agreement between Iraq and the United States. link
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Tishwash: A deputy reveals the results of the war on “hard currency” smuggling
On Thursday, Representative Yasser Iskandar revealed the results of the war on the smuggling of hard currency from Iraq.
Iskandar said in an interview with Al-Maalouma, “The smuggling of hard currency is one of the tools that drain the economy and creates an anomaly in the balance of exchange rates and pushes the parallel market to rise, which leads to excessive prices in the markets, the price of which is paid by the simple people.”
He added, “The efforts of the Ministry of Interior with the Central Bank and supporting formations contributed to reducing the file of hard currency smuggling by 80%, while directing 11 specific strikes to companies and offices dealing in the file of selling currency illegally.”
He pointed out that “currency smuggling is part of corruption that requires exceptional efforts to dismantle it, and government committees are continuing to expose it day after day.”
It is noteworthy that the smuggling of hard currency leads to an increase in exchange rates in Iraq, which puts pressure on the markets and leads to the emergence of excessive prices. link
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Tishwash: Parliamentary Oil Committee reveals details of oil smuggling from the region to Iranian ports
The Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee revealed, on Thursday, the details of oil smuggling from the Kurdistan Region to Iranian ports, explaining that this operation caused a crisis in the transfer of crude oil between Iraqi refineries.
The committee’s deputy chairman, Adnan al-Jaberi, said in a press interview, “We have seen a document issued by the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) regarding the smuggling of oil from the Kurdistan Region to Iranian ports,” noting that “this document states that oil is smuggled from Erbil and Sulaymaniyah via tankers through the Bashmakh and Pirouz Khan crossings.”
Al-Jabri added, “The document revealed that the price of transporting one ton of crude oil to Iran is $135,” noting that “this issue caused an internal crisis in the land transport of oil, considering that most of the tankers are private and have turned towards loading these smuggled materials, and there has been a defect in the transport of official oil, because SOMO pays $33 per official ton, while the cost of transporting smuggled oil reaches $135 per ton, and thus most of the tankers have turned to transporting smuggled oil.”
Al-Jaberi continued, “This crisis has caused the accumulation of crude oil in a number of refineries, which has affected the quantity of petroleum derivatives in these refineries,” noting that “the Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee is following up on this issue with importance, and we will host general managers in this regard.” link
