Palestinians Intelligence Chief: We Reject Iran’s Conspiracy against Arab Countries

Chief of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Intelligence Services Majed Faraj [Twitter]
Chief of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Intelligence Services Majed Faraj [Twitter]
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Palestinians Intelligence Chief: We Reject Iran’s Conspiracy against Arab Countries

Chief of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Intelligence Services Majed Faraj [Twitter]
Chief of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Intelligence Services Majed Faraj [Twitter]

Majed Faraj, head of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service (GIS), has slammed Hamas for dragging Palestinians into conflict and crises with Arab states to please Iranian agendas.

“Hamas is pulling us to a far place,” said Faraj in a rare media statement.

“Our memory is still alive. And Palestine is not just geography, Palestine is the people. People here and hundreds of millions abroad. I am not ready as a Palestinian to grow animosity with Arab countries,” added Faraj.

“I am against any Iranian influence in the Arab region, the Arab region is for the Arabs and will only be for the Arabs,” he asserted, adding that Palestinians support both Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Faraj stressed that his statements weren’t political and reflected a national security position.

He praised Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Jordan, and Bahrain for always backing Palestinians.

“I cheer for Arabs only. And none of us is ready to upset Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, or all of these countries.”

Faraj stressed that Palestine is with resolving any Arab-Arab dispute diplomatically and away from conspiracies.

“We do not accept the Arab capitals to be controlled by non-Arab countries, and I mean Iran openly,” he affirmed.

“This is an Arab land and will remain Arab,” he underlined, adding that his statements stem from an appreciation of countries that have historically stood with Palestinians and an appreciation of the looming dangers as well.

“We are with the unity of the Arabs and the position of the Arabs, and we are not a tool for any party,” added Faraj.

Faraj’s speech against Iran and Hamas came after controversial positions were made in the Hamas-ruled Gaza. Hamas officials and other Iranian-backed factions showed support for Iran and its arms in the region against Arab countries.



Iraq's Kurdish Oil Exports Restart is Not Imminent

An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP
An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP
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Iraq's Kurdish Oil Exports Restart is Not Imminent

An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP
An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP

A restart of Iraq's Kurdish oil exports is not imminent, sources close to the matter said on Friday, despite Iraq's federal government saying on Thursday that shipments would resume immediately.

Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government have been in negotiations since February to end a stand-off that has halted flows from the north of the country to Türkiye's port of Ceyhan. The KRG was producing about 435,000 barrels per day (bpd) before the pipeline closure in March 2023, Reuters reported.

On Thursday the federal government said that Iraqi Kurdistan would resume oil exports immediately through the pipeline to Türkiye's despite drone attacks that have shut down half of the region's output.

But on Friday a source at APIKUR, a group of oil companies working in Kurdistan, said that a restart depended on the receipt of written agreements. Another at KAR Group, which operates the pipeline, said that no preparations had been made for a restart.

Baghdad and the companies have not yet agreed how to restart the exports, a KRG government source said, while a source at Türkiye's Ceyhan said there was also no preparation at the terminal for a restart of flows.

On Thursday, a statement from KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said the government had approved a joint understanding with the federal government and it was awaiting financial details.

Similar agreements in the past failed to secure a resumption in exports and it remains unclear if this deal will succeed.

Oil companies working in Kurdistan have previously demanded that their production-sharing contracts should remain unchanged and their debts of nearly $1 billion be settled under any agreement.

Oilfields in Iraqi Kurdistan have been attacked by drones this week, with officials pointing to Iran-backed militias as the likely source of the attacks, although no group has claimed responsibility.

They are the first such attacks on oilfields in the region and coincide with the first attacks in seven months on shipping in the Red Sea by Iran-aligned Houthi militants in Yemen.

On Thursday a strike hit an oilfield operated by Norway's DNO in Tawke, the region's counter-terrorism service said.

It was the week's second strike on a site operated by DNO, which operates the Tawke and Peshkabour oilfields in the Zakho area that borders Türkiye.

No casualties have been reported, but oil output in the region has been cut by between 140,000 bpd and 150,000 bpd, two energy officials said.