Iraq holds Kurdish government legally responsible for continued oil smuggling
BAGHDAD, June 5 (Reuters) - Iraq's oil ministry said on Thursday it holds the Kurdish regional government (KRG) legally responsible for the continued smuggling of oil from the Kurdish region outside the country.
The ministry reserves the right to take all legal measures in the matter, it added.
Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between Baghdad and Erbil.
Iraq is under pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output to compensate for having produced more than its agreed volume. OPEC counts oil flows from Kurdistan as part of Iraq's quota.
In a ruling issued in 2022, Iraq's federal court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude oil supplies.
The ministry said the KRG's failure to comply with the law has hurt both oil exports and public revenue, forcing Baghdad to cut output from other fields to meet OPEC quotas.
The ministry added that it had urged the KRG to hand over crude produced from its fields, warning that failure to do so could result in significant financial losses and harm the country's international reputation and oil commitments.
Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.
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The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
In 1973, I reported freely on Israel at war. Now its censorship has made that impossible
Watching the TV coverage of the conflict in Gaza with increasing dismay this week, my mind went back to the banks of the Suez canal in October 1973. I was filming the surrender of the entire Egyptian third army with a team from the BBC, without significant censorship or hindrance. The Israeli commander, Gen Avraham Adan, paused in whatever he was doing to give us an update. Crossing the canal on the Israeli pontoon bridge in a bright yellow Hertz car (not a wise choice of colour) we were even helped when we had to repair a tyre that had been punctured by the shrapnel that littered the battlefield. Censorship? Yes, the report was censored by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) back at the satellite feed point in Herzliya. But the censorship was limited only to matters of operational security. This was obviously helpful to the journalists, but also to the Israelis themselves. They had independent verification, with video to back it, of their remarkable achievement in turning around their initial setbacks in Sinai. And they could show, through scenes with a biblical resonance, that the Egyptians' surrender was conducted humanely and in accordance with the Geneva conventions, the laws of war. As the great columns of the third army mounted a sand dune, they exchanged their weapons for bottles of water abundantly provided. Was it always this easy? Of course not. On another occasion, I rose early and reached a road block beyond Gaza only to be turned back, as all the press were that day, on the orders of southern command. But that was exceptional. The IDF operated a policy of relatively open access based on mutual advantage. Sometimes it would herd everyone into press buses, which was far from satisfactory. But it would regularly provide the major TV networks with an escort officer, armed and in uniform, to enable and supervise the coverage. One of my escorts in the Yom Kippur war was Topol, the actor from Fiddler on the Roof. He was something of a hero in Israel, and all roadblocks opened to him. On another occasion I was on my way to the Golan Heights, accompanied and with documents in order, when the great conductor and Israeli sympathiser Zubin Mehta asked for a lift. To my lasting regret I turned him down on the grounds that I had a press pass and he did not – I thought this may harm my chances of being allowed in. Nowhere that the IDF operated was off limits to us. We could film what we wanted and freely interview soldiers of all ranks. In the trenches of the Golan Heights, because of language difficulties, the other ranks tended to be South African immigrants. I was also free to make mistakes. In 1968, the year after the six-day war, I returned to Israel and interviewed the chief of staff, Gen Haim Bar-Lev, who was busy building the defensive line that bore his name. I travelled to Jerusalem and was stopped at a roadblock outside the biblical village of Emmaus. It stood at the centre of the Latrun salient, a Jordanian outpost in the previous war of 1948. The Israelis were busy dismantling it brick by brick. I was not allowed to film it and could only have reported it by leaving the country, not to return. Such compromises are commonplace, but I regret this one. The village disappeared, to be replaced by a Canadian peace park. I was also allowed, after 1967, to visit and stay in Gaza, and show the day-to-day reprisals by the IDF against Palestinians whom it held responsible for previous attacks. The same applied to the destruction of homes in the West Bank city of Qalqilya, and the sowing of landmines round the churches of St John the Baptist in the Jordan valley. All of this passed the IDF's censorship without difficulty. Fast forward to today, and the coverage – or rather, the non-coverage – of the conflict between the Israelis and Hamas in Gaza. The broadcasts regularly start with the mantra that the IDF does not allow foreign media access into the Gaza Strip, and proceed with the most vivid coverage, shot by brave freelances and other civilians posting on social media from inside Gaza, of scenes of death and destruction with the commentary voiced remotely in Jerusalem, Ashkelon or London. Often, both print and broadcast media preface the numbers of the dead and injured with a reminder that they were provided by the Hamas-run health ministry – sometimes the only source available. My former colleague Jeremy Bowen said on the Today programme on Wednesday: 'Israel doesn't let us in because it's doing things there … that they don't want us to see, otherwise they would allow free reporting.' I'm inclined to agree with him. My sympathies are with Bowen, Fergal Keane and others at the BBC, especially when Donald Trump flings around baseless accusations of bias. The BBC and other responsible news outlets have a difficult line to tread. I cannot speak for the American networks, but the British channels all have excellent reporters standing by in the region, not exactly there but thereabouts, sometimes on the high ground overlooking Gaza, which some reporters call the 'hill of shame'. What is missing is the first-hand experience of the war, shared by reporters on the ground who can properly interpret what is happening. This gives free rein to rumour and falsehood. What Bowen and I know from our shared experience is that it is not enough to win the war of weapons without also winning the war of words and images. And the IDF must see that it is losing. It has historically had its ups and downs with the foreign press, but nothing like the present entrenched hostility. It is doing itself great damage, which it is beginning to feel diplomatically. I would urge the following: that the foreign press, especially the TV networks, continue to stand their ground, and that the Israeli press machine does itself a favour and relaxes the rules to allow some independent access to Gaza. This will not only limit the tides of propaganda (on both sides, it must be said) but perhaps hold the frontline troops to higher standards of behaviour, just as it did beside the Suez canal in 1973. It is important to both sides to reestablish at least the limited level of trust that used to exist between them. Here is an example. In the 1973 war, we were able transmit the news by satellite on the day that it happened. Our office was a chair beneath a palm tree near the feed point. In the 1967 war, the exposed news film was bundled into onion bags – blue for the BBC, red for NBC – and taken to the censor who stamped his approval on the masking tape around the neck, before it was air-freighted to London. But he had to take our word for what the film actually showed. The public had a more accurate account back then of events on the battlefield than it does today through the fog of war in Gaza. When access is denied, everyone loses. And, Israel, that includes you. Martin Bell is a Unicef UK ambassador. He is a former broadcast war reporter, and was the independent MP for Tatton from 1997 to 2001 Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
BreakingNews.ie
3 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Taoiseach says every effort will be made to bring Robert Pether home as soon as possible
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that every effort will be made to get Robert Pether home to his family in Roscommon as quickly as possible, following his release from custody in Iraq after four years in prison. Mr Pether, who is an Australian citizen, has been in prison in Iraq since April 2021, after he was arrested on fraud charges following a contractual dispute involving his employer that arose out of the building of a new Central Bank building in Baghdad in Iraq. Advertisement The United Nations says it has been an arbitrary detention. Speaking during a school visit in Passage West, Co Cork on Friday morning, Mr Martin welcomed Mr Pether's release. He said that the imprisonment of the resident of Elphin, Co Roscommon, has been 'very distressing' for his wife, children and other family members. 'I don't want to say things that may in any way hinder his eventual arrival back to Ireland, but I believe this is a good first step. "We have to work very hard with countries such as Iraq and others in terms [of] the treatment of Irish citizens. He is an Australian citizen, which is a complicating factor in all of this, but both ourselves and the Australian Government have been working together in terms of endeavouring to get him out.' Advertisement Mr Martin said that he remains concerned about the health of the 49-year-old. 'I certainly do (share the concern of his wife) and the knock-on impact, the significant impact, on the well-being of the family. I have met with (his wife) Desree, and I think it's very upsetting. It is very difficult, as she said herself this morning, to see him now in terms of what the impact of prison has had on his life.' Meanwhile, Desree Pether told Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1 this morning that she was shocked at the poor physical condition of her husband when she spoke to him by video link. She said that Mr Pether is 'not well at all' and 'really needs to just come home so he can get the proper medical attention he needs.' Advertisement She said that he has fainted a few times over the last few months. 'He is not eating properly because he can't keep anything down. It is a shock to the system to see how far he has declined.' Ms Pether and other family members have been actively campaigning to get Robert Pether out of prison since 2021. Mr Martin met with Mr Pether's family in January of last year in his capacity as Minister for Foreign Affairs. He also raised the case with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2023. The Department of Foreign Affairs raised the issue with Iraqi embassy in Dublin on numerous occasions whilst the detention of Mr Pether was also raised in Baghdad by Ireland's Ambassador to Iraq, Marianne Bolger.
The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Iran's unfathomably cruel execution regime is laid bare… by the man who's seen it first hand after 25 YEARS on death row
ONE of Iran's longest-serving prisoners has exposed the disturbing mechanisms the regime uses to put inmates to death. Saeed Masouri, who has spent 25 years behind bars, also revealed how the execution rate has spiralled in the last month in a harrowing letter written behind bars. 5 5 5 The regime's merciless killing spree has seen at least 176 inmates sent to the gallows in the past month. Insiders told The Sun the shocking spike in executions comes amid a barbaric attempt from leaders to crush dissent and act as a warning against it. Masouri, who was arrested for his affiliation with the resistance unit People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, has now told of the secret process behind executions. Psychological torture, threats against family and sham trials are all used as tools by the regime to condemn its enemies to death on trumped-up charges. Masouri's emotional letter was smuggled out of the notorious Ghezel Hesar prison in Iran and shared with The Sun from Iran Human Rights Monitor. "It is often said that every criminal act is preceded by criminal preparations, hidden beneath the surface," the 60-year-old wrote in a letter to the UN. "For instance, when an execution is carried out, the inhumane and rights-violating acts that preceded it remain hidden from view. "Formal steps like prosecution, indictment, and trial are mere facades. Every detail, from A to Z, is orchestrated by these security agencies." Masouri told how those accused are hauled into court with a "fabricated case file" to give a smoke screen of a fair and legal procedure. "These so-called 'judges don't even read the actual files," he said. Dad set to be executed in Iran shares powerful audio message blasting regime from behind bars "This is why there is no logical argumentation or credible evidence in the case files, no opportunity for defence (as trials rarely last more than 10 minutes), and no access for lawyers to review the case materials. "Verdicts are predetermined and simply announced. "Empty phrases about 'resolving disputes', 'equality before the law', 'prohibition of injustice', or 'delivering rights to rightful owners' are just lip service. "In reality, defendants are denied the right to a fair defense, and the courts are devoid of justice and even basic adherence to their own laws. "Meanwhile, the stripping of civil rights is carried out to the fullest extent possible." Defendants - and their lawyers - are often even denied access to their own files, making it near impossible to be cleared. Masouri said this is true in the cases of Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani, who both face imminent execution. "When the so-called evidence in a case has no real basis or credibility, the only way to keep it hidden is to declare the entire file confidential," he wrote. Haunting message of dad behind bars Exclusive by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital) A DAD set to be executed in Iran blasted its brutal regime in a powerful voice message recorded behind bars. Mehdi Hassani, 48, was handed a death sentence on trumped-up charges and has been tortured in jail. He now faces imminent execution after his appeal to be spared death was rejected by Iran 's merciless rulers. But defiant Hassani has unleashed a blistering put down of Iran's 'cruelty and oppression' in a voice message to his daughter Maryam that has been shared with The Sun. The dad-of-three said: 'This regime has for the past 46 years spent the country's wealth on warmongering and suppressing the people of Iran. 'If I'm in prison today and have been sentenced to execution, it is only because I could not tolerate seeing such cruelty and oppression against this nation and against the children of my land and I stood up against oppression. 'They have no evidence against me and they didn't even allow my lawyer to access and study my file so that he could expose the contradictions that exist.' Hassani - who was arrested in September - vowed the regime is 'doomed to perish'. "[This allows] the system to coerce forced confessions, such as televised admissions or baseless claims presented as 'documentaries'. "In return, the accused is promised clemency or a reduction in punishment. In this way, the defendant is forced to choose: either confess to lies or face execution. "Lawyers - stripped of any ability to defend their clients - are left to weigh between refusing to participate in injustice and doing something, anything, to save their client's life. "Often, the only path left is for the accused themselves to express remorse, seek forgiveness, or act in whatever way they think may help." But Masouri warned even if inmates decide to "confess" to fabricated charges, it does not put them in the clear. "The accused's family is summoned and threatened: if your loved one does not repent, if they do not write a confession, if they do not seek a pardon - then execution is inevitable, and nothing can stop it," he said. "If the execution happens, the blame lies with them—and with you. "Thus, when families and lawyers are left with no means of defense, they may blame themselves, one another, or even the defendant. 5 5 "The government and judiciary, meanwhile, are absolved of any responsibility. It comes amid a staggering rise in executions - which sources told The Sun came as the eyes of the world were on Iran's nuclear talks with the US rather than its human rights record. More than 1,100 state executions have taken place Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei 's stooge came to power. According to figures from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), that marks more than a 20 per cent increase compared to 2023, when the regime executed 853 Iranians. Hossein Abedini, deputy director of the NCRI offices in the UK, said paranoid rules were hellbent on stamping out repression. He told The Sun: "Executions under the clerical regime contravene all internationally recognised standards and norms of due process and are fundamentally used as a political instrument of repression. "Faced with deep-rooted crises stemming from illegitimacy, corruption, and incompetence, and driven by fear of popular uprisings and nationwide protests, this regime has resorted to increasing executions. "It employs inhumane pressures on political prisoners, torturing and harassing them and their families. "As a result, the rate of executions in Iran is rising at an unprecedented level in recent decades, with death sentences issued even for political prisoners arrested during the September 2022 uprising." Iran ramps up executions by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital) PARANOID Iranian leaders are hellbent on ramping up repression on home turf in a dramatic bid to stamp out rebellion, insiders say. It comes as Iran's regime has been left red-faced by the downfall of Syria 's dictatorship as well as severe defeats of its terror proxies. Executions are said to be taking place every couple of hours as Iran slaughters its people in "unprecedented numbers". Iran has one of the most horrific human rights records in the world, and according to campaigners also holds the harrowing title for the highest execution rate. The Sun previously revealed how dozens of people had been sentenced to death by stoning just for adultery. Harrowing records leaked from Iran's torturous prisons also showed how thousands were holed up on death row for petty crimes. In 2024, the Iranian regime ramped up the executions of its own people - including women, children and political prisoners. Official records show that the number of executions last year reached 1,000 - the highest number in 30 years and 16 percent higher than the previous. Of those on record, 34 were women and seven were under 18 at the time of their so-called crimes. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) fears the true toll is much higher as many of the deaths are kept secret, however. Most of the surging executions are by hanging, but there is also evidence of other medieval torture punishments including public flogging, limb-removal and eye-gouging.
