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Mohammad Mokhber made the comment during a meeting with visiting President of the Central Bank of Iraq Mustafa Ghaleb Makhif, adding that interaction with neighboring countries is a priority of Iran.

Among the countries neighboring the Islamic Republic of Iran, the government and the people of the Iraqi Republic, due to deep religious, cultural and historical bonds, have a special standing for the Islamic Republic, Mokhber said.

Both sides should pave the way for deeper cooperation and activities of the Iraqi and Iranian private sector and companies, and to that end, it is necessary that the central banks of the two countries play a stronger role in facilitating financial affairs.

Mokhber also touched on the security situation in the region, stressing that Iraqs stability, security and international standing is of great significance for Iran.

He said Tehran believes regional problems can only be resolved by regional countries using their domestic potentials and getting assistance from neighbors, and any intervention by foreign countries, and especially the US, will only keep governments and nations back.

Ghaleb, in turn, called for cooperation between the central banks to help the implementation of previous agreements between the two countries.

He added that Iraq considers it a priority to remove existing obstacles to investment of Iranian companies in the country and participation in Iraqi projects.

Ghaleb also hailed Irans role in helping restore stability and security to Iraq, stressing that the religious ties between the two neighbors are unbreakable.

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Iran Calls For Increasing Financial Transactions With Iraq - Iran Front Page - Iran Front Page - IFP News

The impact of COVID-19 on children

In Iraq, the COVID-19 pandemic is threatening to reverse the gains made in relation to child protection and wellbeing in the past few years. School closures initiated by the Federal Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government were some of the longest in the world, at 63 weeks, and affected 11 million children. School reopenings have been inconsistent and fluctuating. Many children have not been able to access remote educational modalities due to low computer ownership, limited access to internet and poor connectivity. This has left up to 7.4 million children without access to education during the periods of closure. Children who could access remote schooling received poor quality education as many teachers could only teach 50% of the time. This potentially impacts childrens short-term educational attainment and their future overall development.

Prior to the pandemic, one in five children in Iraq lived in poverty. Since the onset of COVID-19, with a rise in unemployment in an already fragile economy, that figure has risen to up to 40% . There are also signs that violence against children is increasing, and access to basic services, such as routine health care, is limited.The economic impacts of the pandemic, along with the extended school closures, have led to an increase in negative coping strategies, including school drop-out, child marriage and child labour. In surveys of refugee and asylum seekers in Iraq, UNHCR found there was a sharp increase in the percentage of [households] reporting turning to child marriage (42%), child labor (17%), and/or selling household items (17%) to generate funds.

In summary, the COVID-19 pandemic has had many, varied impacts on childrens protection and well-being. Child protection organizations, such as World Vision Iraq, have had to adapt their programming to meet the enhanced and particular needs of children at this time.

The objectives of World Vision Iraqs COVID-19 Response are:

Scaling up preventative measures to stop the spread of the virus

Strengthening health systems and workers

Supporting children impacted by COVID-19

Collaborating and advocating to ensure the most vulnerable children are protected

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Child Protection and COVID-19: Iraq Case Study - Iraq - ReliefWeb

The Assyrian cathedral dedicated to the Holy Apostles Mar Thomas, Mar Addai and Mar Mari will rise near the citadel. Construction was put on hold for the past 10 years, but now the community is back in its land after a long exile. Yesterday also marked the 7th anniversary of an attack by the Islamic State against Assyrian Christians in the Khabour plain in which scores of Christians were killed and their places of worship were devastated.

Baghdad (AsiaNews) A simple but intense ceremony yesterday marked the laying of the first stone of the future Assyrian Cathedral of the Holy Apostles Mar Thomas, Mar Addai and Mar Mari, disciples of the East, in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The church will become the religious and administrative centre of the patriarchal see of the Assyrian Church of the East, marking its final return to Iraq. The see had been closed for more than a decade.

The ceremony was led by Patriarch Mar Awa III, together with numerous local religious leaders (including Chaldean and Syriac bishops) along with government officials and representatives of civil society groups.

The land on which the future cathedral and the patriarchal see will rise belongs to the Assyrian Church of the East and is located near downtown Erbil, not far from the citadel.

Construction began about ten years ago, under the leadership of then Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV, but was eventually abandoned for a long time. The project was resumed recently, culminating in yesterdays ceremony.

Local Christian sources are very happy about the event, noting that it represents a further sign of the Churchs "return to Mesopotamia" and its land of origin after a few decades of exile.

The Assyrian Church of the East follows the Eastern Syriac rite and is considered a legitimate continuation of the Eastern Church.

In 1933, due to the geopolitical situation in the region and anti-Christian persecution, starting with the Assyrian-Armenian genocide in the First World War, the Church moved its headquarters first from the Middle East to Cyprus, then to Chicago in the United States.

The first steps towards return were taken in 2006, with the decision to build the new patriarchal see in Erbil and the election of the patriarch, with full authority over the place where the history of the Assyrian Church originated.

Mar Awa Royel is the current head of the Assyrian Church of the East, succeeding Mar Gewargis III Sliwa who resigned last September. Most of the Churchs 350,000 members live in the diaspora.

In both Iraq and Syria, Christians also commemorated yesterday (pictures 3 and 4) the seventh anniversary of a deadly attack by the Islamic State against Assyrian villages in the Khabour plain, in Syria.

Overnight between 22 and 23 February 2015, hundreds of Islamic State vehicles drove into 35 villages in Hasakah governorate, north-eastern Syria, kidnapping 290 civilians, most of them women and children, executing at least 44 of them.

About 10,000 people fled the region in search of safety. All churches and Christian places of worship were set on fire or destroyed in one of the darkest pages in the history of anti-Christian persecution by the Islamic State.

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IRAQ SYRIA First stone of the future cathedral of the Assyrian Church of the East laid in Erbil - AsiaNews

Damascus: Its been almost 20 years since the toppling of Saddam Husseins regime in April 2003 following the US-led invasion of Iraq. Iraqs Sunnis have had to pay a high price for being the community that produced the deposed president. Since then, they have seen de-Baathification, systematic persecution, faced paramilitary death squads, while being collectively prohibited from top posts like the presidency and premiership.

The only exception to that rule was transitional president Ghazi Al Yawer, a toothless and ceremonial Sunni tribal leader, who served as president between June 2004 and April 2005.

Two new leaders

For two solid decades, however, the community felt threatened, weakened, and headless. But, now, the Sunni Muslim community now seems to be on a rebound, united under the leadership of two figures: Businessman-turned politician Khamees Khanjar and Parliament Speaker Mohammed Al Halbousi.

Behind closed doors, Khanjar and Halbousi are rumoured to be close to Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Halbousi is often considered Riyadhs man in Baghdad, while Khanjar is frequently associated with Ankara, although nothing in their careers points to such affiliation.

It would be only natural for them to reach out to Sunni heavyweight states to maintain a threshold in Iraqi politics, especially given that most of their counterparts in the Shiite community were parachuted into their jobs by Iran, including all former premiers, or been on Iranian payroll since the 1980s.

Contradicting careers

Although Khanjar is better known to the outside world for his wealth, Halbousi is no less successful as a businessman, and no less rich. Before entering politics, he had made a fortune as head of the Al Hadeed Co, handling major reconstruction projects, including the sewage matrix of his native Falluja. At 41, he is young, well-connected both regionally and internationally, and hails from a prominent tribe that was never close to Saddam or Daesh.

Khanjar is older, at 56, and sanctioned by the US since 2019, on charges of corruption. Among other things, he is accused of amassing a fortune through a tobacco business partnership with Saddams son Uday. He parted ways with Uday in 1996 and moved to the Gulf, working in real estate development, financial services, and industry, before returning to Iraq in 2003.

When the 2003 invasion happened, the two men stood at opposite ends of the spectrum, Khanjar bankrolling the Sunni insurgency while Halbousi was working with American contractors on reconstruction. Khanjar was later accused of collaborating with Daesh, prompting him to set up a 3,000-man army of tribal figures (all Sunni Muslims) to fight Daesh in Iraq.

Khanjar has raised eyebrows by calling for a three-way federalisation of Iraq, between Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. The Sunni region, he says, would become a hub for regional investment while southern Iraq would remain in Irans orbit.

What the Sunnis will get?

Collectively, the two Sunni politicians won 51 seats in last Octobers parliamentary elections (37 for Halbousis Taqqadum Party, 14 for Khanjars Azm Movement). Iraqi Kurds, who are also Sunni Muslims, won 63 seats, bringing the communitys share up to an impressive 114 out of 329 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

Thats not enough for secure a majority, however, which requires 165 votes in Parliament.

Last January, Halbousi and Khanjar teamed up with Moqtada Al Sadr, the powerful Shiite militia leader-turned-politician, who controls 73 seats in the Iraqi Chamber. Backed by a collective vote with Sadrs MPs, they managed to secure a second term for Halbousi as speaker, making him the first Sunni to serve for two terms in parliament since 2003.

Sadr is increasingly relying on them to dictate state policy, given that bad blood brewing between him and rival Shiite parties, the Iran-backed Coordination Framework. Those parties, including the Fateh Alliance and Badr Organisation, lost their majority in Parliament and collectively walked out on the chambers first session on January 9.

Sadr is planning to name a member of his Sairoun Party as Iraqs next prime minister, citing the numerical majority of his parliamentary bloc. To do that, he needs parliamentary allies.

Thirty-one Kurdish MPs support him (from the Kurdistan Democratic Party), along with the Sunni bloc of 51 MPs. If combined with the 73 seats that he controls, that adds up to 155 seats 10 votes short of a majority which can be filled with support from smaller parliamentary blocs.

If Halbousi and Khanjar stand up Sadr until curtain fall and they have no reason not to then they will undoubtedly be rewarded with a greater share of seats in the future government. Since the toppling of Saddam, the Sunnis had been banned from key positions like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Interior, although compensated with one sovereignty portfolio, being Defence.

Whether that changes in the upcoming period depends on the politics of Khanjar and Halbousi, and what strings they will pull in the upcoming weeks and months.

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For first time since fall of Saddam, Iraq's Sunnis united, bent on rebound - Gulf News

The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is pictured at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, August 21, 2015. Picture taken August 21. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader

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Feb 3 (Reuters) - Iraq pumped 4.16 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in January, below its allowed limit of 4.28 million bpd under a pact with other so-called OPEC+ producers, data from state-owned marketer SOMO seen by Reuters showed on Thursday.

Iraq like several other OPEC members is struggling to pump more even as prices trade at a seven-year high. read more

Its output actually fell by 63,000 bpd from December, the data showed.

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Iraq's January exports were affected by adverse weather conditions, technical issues, and maintenance on export facilities, an Iraqi oil official told Reuters.

Insufficient storage capacity forced Iraq to reduce production, the source said.

The SOMO figures included output from Iraqs semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, which produced 425,000 bpd, according to a Reuters calculation.

Iraq's undersupply meant its compliance with the OPEC+ pact stood at 132% last month, the SOMO figures show.

OPEC+, a grouping of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, uses an average of secondary source production figures to determine compliance.

OPEC pumped 28.01 million bpd in January, a Reuters survey found on Monday, up 210,000 bpd from the previous month but short of the 254,000 bpd increase allowed under the supply deal. read more

Production fell or did not increase in Angola, Congo, Iran, Iraq and Libya, the survey found, in many cases owing to a lack of capacity to produce more or because of unplanned outages.

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Reporting by Rowena Edwards; editing by Jan Harvey and Jason Neely

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Iraq produced well below its OPEC+ crude quota in January -SOMO - Reuters