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Prime Minister (PM) Haidar al-Abadi is pushing ahead with his political reform initiative following the unanimous passing of his reform bill on August 11 by the Council of Representatives (CoR).
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s landmark August 7 sermon has provided PM Abadi with a mandate to embark on administrative, financial, and anti-corruption reforms.
Popular demonstrations have continued and have spread in southern and northern Iraq in a development that may eventually threaten PM Abadi’s political standing, the stability of southern Iraq, and challenge the Iraqi government’s ability to dedicate national resources to the anti-ISIS campaign.
The government of Prime Minister (PM) Haidar al-Abadi is taking active steps toward decentralization by allowing approval of the Provincial Powers Act, also known as Law 21, which transfers powers from the central to the provincial governments.
The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), supported by U.S.-led Coalition airpower, have continued to report advances north and south of Ramadi while simultaneously repelling ISIS’s attacks east of the city.
The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), including the Counter Terrorism Service, U.S.-trained Iraqi Army units, Iraqi Police, Federal Police, supported by Iraqi Air Force and U.S.-led Coalition airstrikes, have advanced east and south of Ramadi amid the high-profile operation that was publicly discussed during Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter’s visit to Iraq last week.
The recent deterioration of security in Diyala has generated competing requirements for Iranian proxy forces following the deployment of the Badr Organization and other groups into Anbar, their furthest deployment in Sunni areas of Iraq to date.
The Iraqi government is experiencing competing pressures from dispersed ISIS attacks which have strained the capacity of both the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the “Popular Mobilization.”
PM Abadi and the PM Office spokesperson praised the P5+1 nuclear agreement with Iran, explaining that decreased tension between the U.S. and Iran is in Iraq’s national interest.