Iraq: Shell Temporarily Evacuates Foreign Staff From Basra Gas Project

Shell logo - AFP
Shell logo - AFP
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Iraq: Shell Temporarily Evacuates Foreign Staff From Basra Gas Project

Shell logo - AFP
Shell logo - AFP

Shell temporarily evacuated foreign staff from Iraq’s Basra Gas Company for security reasons, officials and company executives said on Thursday.

The employees who are up to 60 flew out of the country, however, production was not halted, according to the officials.

“Shell’s evacuation is a precautionary and temporary measure and its foreign staff will provide advice and perform their duties remotely for now,” a senior Basra Gas Company official said.

This took place on Wednesday after laid off workers staged a protest in the headquarters of Basra Gas Company, a venture between state-owned South Gas Company, Shell and Mitsubishi, officials said.

The protest was also close to a Shell company compound, Reuters reported.

Operations at the gas project were not affected by the evacuation and work was continuing normally, overseen by Iraqi engineers, Iraqi officials said.

Iraqi security officials providing security at the Basra Gas Company said Wednesday’s protest was limited and did not pose a threat, adding that the situation was secured.



Lebanon: Barrack Says US Cannot 'Compel' Israel to Do Anything

US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Awkar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Awkar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Lebanon: Barrack Says US Cannot 'Compel' Israel to Do Anything

US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Awkar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Awkar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Washington cannot "compel" Israel to do anything, US special envoy Thomas Barrack said in Beirut on Monday, in response to a reporter's question about Lebanese demands that the US guarantees a halt to Israeli strikes on Lebanese territory.

The US last month proposed a roadmap to Lebanon's top officials to fully disarm Hezbollah within four months, in exchange for a halt to Israeli strikes and a withdrawal of Israeli troops still occupying positions in southern Lebanon, Reuters said.

Lebanon has asked Washington to act as a security guarantor to ensure that Israel will pull out its troops in full and halt targeting operations against members of Hezbollah, if the armed group begins handing in weapons.

Asked about those guarantees, Barrack told reporters after a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam that the US "has no business in trying to compel Israel to do anything."

He also told reporters that the US was not forcing Lebanon to strip Hezbollah of its arms, or considering sanctions against Lebanese officials if Hezbollah is not disarmed.

"There's no consequence, there's no threat, there's no whip," Barrack said.

Barrack, a longtime adviser to US President Donald Trump, also serves as US ambassador to Türkiye and special envoy for Syria.

He is making his third trip to Lebanon in just over a month to discuss the US roadmap, which covers disarmament of non-state armed groups, long-awaited economic reforms and better ties with Lebanon's neighbor Syria.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a months-long war last year that ended with a US-brokered truce calling for both sides to halt fighting, for Israel to withdraw troops, and for Lebanon to be free of all non-state arms, starting with the southern region closest to the Israeli border.

While Hezbollah has handed in some weapons from depots in the country's south to the Lebanese army, Israel says the group is violating the ceasefire by attempting to re-establish itself.

Lebanon and Hezbollah say Israel has breached the truce by continuing to occupy at least five vantage points in a strip of the Lebanese border, and carrying out strikes on what Israel says are Hezbollah members and arms depots.