New York Meeting Aims to Develop Strategic Partnership between Yemen, Int’l Community 

Yemeni Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak meets with British Ambassador to Yemen Abda Sharif. (Saba file photo)
Yemeni Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak meets with British Ambassador to Yemen Abda Sharif. (Saba file photo)
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New York Meeting Aims to Develop Strategic Partnership between Yemen, Int’l Community 

Yemeni Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak meets with British Ambassador to Yemen Abda Sharif. (Saba file photo)
Yemeni Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak meets with British Ambassador to Yemen Abda Sharif. (Saba file photo)

The Yemeni government is seeking to forge a real strategic partnership with the international community and garner political and economic support for its reform plans.

Yemeni Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak traveled to the United States at the head of a delegation to take part in an international ministerial meeting aimed at backing the legitimate Yemeni government.

The meeting, held in partnership with Britain, will be hosted at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Monday. The UN Security Council is also set to meet on the same day.

British Ambassador to Yemen Abda Sharif said last week that Yemeni-British coordination is ongoing to hold the New York meeting. Some 30 regional and international parties are expected to attend.

She hoped the meeting would mark the beginning of real partnership between Yemen and the international community, adding, however, that a lot of work remains to be done.

The conference is a step forward in that direction, she stated.

Bin Mubarak said his government will present to regional and international partners its vision for Yemen’s economic recovery and stability and its plan for the next two years.

The government is prioritizing urgent reforms, he stressed in remarks to the media.

The ministerial meeting demonstrates the international community’s commitment to supporting the government and its efforts to achieve stability and security in Yemen, he went on to say.

It sends a “strong message, especially amid the rapid regional and international changes,” he noted.

The PM is scheduled to hold meetings with representatives of friendly and fraternal nations on the sidelines of the meeting. He is also expected to hold talks with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and senior UN officials, as well as officials from the International Monetary Fund.



Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
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Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo

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, Reuters reported.

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-Türkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.