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Arab World

Abadi Rejects Kurdish Offer, Demands Annulment of Referendum to Resume Talks

Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri welcomes al-Abadi in Tehran during his visit in 2014 [AP]
Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri welcomes al-Abadi in Tehran during his visit in 2014 [AP]
    Baghdad, Irbil - Asharq Al-Awat
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Abadi Rejects Kurdish Offer, Demands Annulment of Referendum to Resume Talks

Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri welcomes al-Abadi in Tehran during his visit in 2014 [AP]
Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri welcomes al-Abadi in Tehran during his visit in 2014 [AP]

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi rejected on Thursday a Kurdish proposal to freeze the referendum on independence in the Kurdistan Region and said “only a complete annulment of the referendum and the respect of the constitution” would allow the resumption of talks between Baghdad and Irbil.

Abadi was speaking Thursday from Iran following a regional tour that involved Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, in the framework of a campaign to gather support for his position against the referendum.

The Iraqi prime minister met with President Hassan Rouhani and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who expressed his country’s reservations regarding the presence of cooperation between Baghdad and Washington, while he supported the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq, asserting that it was an important country in the Arab world.

On Wednesday, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) suggested to freeze the outcome of the referendum and open talks with Baghdad and to immediately stop military operations in the Kurdish region.

At the battlefield, clashes raged on Thursday between the Iraqi forces and Peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq, leaving one leading Kurdish official dead.

The UN Security Council expressed concern over the latest developments between Baghdad and Irbil, affirming its support for the unity of the Iraqi territories.

Kurdish sources said that Peshmerga forces confronted on Thursday attacks launched by the Iraqi forces and armed members from the Hashd al-Shaabi and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on western and eastern Mosul and southern Irbil.

The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) reported the attacks on Peshmerga positions by Iraqi forces and Hashed militias backed by Iran.

"Iraqi and Iranian-backed PMF [Popular Mobilization Forces] are shelling Peshmerga positions from Zummar, North West of Mosul. Now advancing," the Kurdistan's security council tweeted on Thursday.

It said both Hashd commanders Hadi al-Amri and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were supervising the attacks against the people of the Kurdistan Region.

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Arab World

Iraq's Parliament Elects Al-Halbousi as Its New Speaker

The new speaker of parliament Haibet Al-Halbousi, center, looks on before the start of their first legislative session in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
The new speaker of parliament Haibet Al-Halbousi, center, looks on before the start of their first legislative session in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
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Iraq's Parliament Elects Al-Halbousi as Its New Speaker

The new speaker of parliament Haibet Al-Halbousi, center, looks on before the start of their first legislative session in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
The new speaker of parliament Haibet Al-Halbousi, center, looks on before the start of their first legislative session in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iraq's parliament on Monday elected a new speaker following overnight talks to break a political deadlock.

Haibet Al-Halbousi received 208 votes from the 309 legislators who attended, according to The AP news. He is a member of the Takadum, or Progress, party led by ousted speaker and relative Mohammed al-Halbousi. Twenty legislators did not attend the session.

Iraq held parliamentary elections in November but didn’t produce a bloc with a decisive majority. By convention, Iraq’s president is always Kurdish, while the more powerful prime minister is Shiite and the parliamentary speaker is Sunni.

The new speaker must address a much-debated bill that would have the Hashd al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Units become a formal security institution under the state. Iran-backed armed groups have growing political influence.

Al-Halbousi also must tackle Iraq’s mounting public debt of tens of billions of dollars as well as widespread corruption.

Babel Governor Adnan Feyhan was elected first deputy speaker with 177 votes, a development that might concern Washington. Feyhan is a member of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, a US-sanctioned, Iran-backed group with an armed wing led by Qais al-Khazali, also sanctioned by Washington.

Arab World

Hamas Armed Wing Confirms Spokesman Killed by Israel in August

FILE Photo of Hamas now late spokesperson Abu Ubaida. (Screengrab from al-Qassam brigades video)
FILE Photo of Hamas now late spokesperson Abu Ubaida. (Screengrab from al-Qassam brigades video)
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Hamas Armed Wing Confirms Spokesman Killed by Israel in August

FILE Photo of Hamas now late spokesperson Abu Ubaida. (Screengrab from al-Qassam brigades video)
FILE Photo of Hamas now late spokesperson Abu Ubaida. (Screengrab from al-Qassam brigades video)

Hamas' armed wing confirmed on Monday the death of its spokesperson, Abu Obeida, months after Israel announced that he had been killed in an air strike in Gaza.

Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades released a video statement on its Telegram channel, saying: "We pause in reverence before... the masked man loved by millions... the great martyred commander and spokesperson of the Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida", AFP reported.

Israel had announced it had killed Abu Obeida in a strike on Gaza on August 30.

Born on February 11, 1985, and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Abu Obeida joined Hamas at an early age before becoming a member of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

He later became the group's sole spokesman, delivering video statements in military uniform with his face consistently concealed by a red keffiyeh. He had been the target of multiple Israeli assassination attempts.

According to Hamas officials, Abu Obeida embodied what they describe as "resistance" and was known for fiery and impactful speeches, many of which included threats against Israel or announcements of military operations.

"For many years, only a very small circle of Hamas officials knew his true identity," a Hamas official told AFP.

Israel has decimated Hamas's leadership, saying it seeks to eradicate the group following Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war.

The video announcing Abu Obeida's death was delivered by a masked man dressed in the former spokesperson's distinctive style, who said he would adopt his predecessor's name for future statements.

In the same video, he also announced the deaths of four other Hamas commanders in Israeli attacks during the war.

 

 

 

 

Arab World

Iraq’s Newly Elected Parliament Holds First Session

A view of the Iraqi Parliament building in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP)
A view of the Iraqi Parliament building in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP)
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Iraq’s Newly Elected Parliament Holds First Session

A view of the Iraqi Parliament building in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP)
A view of the Iraqi Parliament building in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP)

Iraq's newly elected parliament convened ​on Monday for its first session since the November national election, opening the ‌way for ‌lawmakers ‌to begin ⁠the ​process ‌of forming a new government.

Parliament is due to elect a speaker and ⁠two deputies ‌during its first meeting. ‍

Lawmakers ‍must then ‍choose a new president by within 30 days of ​the first session.

The president will subsequently ⁠ask the largest bloc in parliament to form a government, a process that in Iraq typically drags on for ‌months.