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Russia's Lukoil signed a supplementary agreement with Iraq’s Basra Oil Company to extend its development and production contract on the West Qurna-2 oil field by ten years to 2045.

Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) President Nechirvan Barzani met France’s President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée Palace in Paris early November. The discussions covered bilateral relations between France and Iraq, and the KRI in particular, as well as the potential impact of the Israel-Hamas war on Iraq. 

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani removed Lieutenant General Abdulwahab Al-Saadi as Counter Terrorism Service chief on 1 November.

The potential for Iran’s 'Axis of Resistance' militia network to destabilise the wider region has been manifest in an alarming acceleration of attacks on bases hosting United States troops in Iraq and Syria by IRGC-backed militias.

Even before the new Gaza war shattered comfortable assumptions about regional security, the global economic climate had been hostile, as shown in analysis of the International Monetary Fund's new reports on the global outlook and regional economic performance.

The 'Axis of Resistance' bloc of state and non-state actors, Shia and Sunni militias, has been long in the making, as Iran's revolutionary elite has sought to project its influence via a disparate group of organisations ranged across the Middle East. Its components are of differing sizes and capabilities, and their links to Iran also vary.

There have been public protests in a number of countries around the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) in support of Palestinians and against Israeli actions in Gaza, but in many countries they have been limited in scope. Huge crowds have taken to the streets in capitals from Rabat to Baghdad, but there have been no major events in the countries where the public space is most tightly controlled, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has upheld the conviction of France's TotalEnergies and Switzerland-based Vitol for bribing Iraqi officials during the United Nations-run Oil-for-Food (OfF) programme between October 2000 and March 2003.

Official statements from the Gulf monarchies have called for de-escalation and international mediation between Hamas and Israel, but there have been notable differences in where blame has been apportioned.

Turkish attacks: Türkiye (Turkey) launched a sustained aerial bombardment of Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) bases in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) in early October, following a suicide bombing at the Ministry of Interior building in Ankara on the opening day of the month, a few hours ahead of the reopening of the Turkish parliament after a three-month summer recess.

Saladin governor warrant: An arrest warrant was issued by Iraq's Federal Commission of Integrity against a former governor of Saladin province, following accusations of corruption involving contracts for water services in the area. A statement by the commission on 7 October said the warrant had been issued under Article 331 of the Penal Code.

The recent decision by Iraq's Constitutional Court to annul a 2013 law that regulated the use of the Khor Abdullah waterway shared with Kuwait has continued to cause diplomatic waves, with Kuwait rallying its international friends and partners to put pressure on Baghdad over the decision. 

Global and regional powers have drawn up a series of plans to develop new trade corridors through Gulf countries over recent years, with the latest emerging at the G20 summit in India which will pass through the UAE, Saudi Arabia and on to Jordan and Israel. The ambitious plan could take decades to realise and will face competition from rival schemes backed by Iran, Iraq, Russia and Turkey. 

A drone strike on Arbat Airport in Sulaymaniyah governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in September killed three members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's elite Counterterrorism Group and wounded three others. Iraqi military officials blamed Turkey for the attack.

Baghdad claims to have disarmed and moved Iranian Kurdish exiles from the border area with Iran, but the reality is that compliance has been more limited, meaning further Iranian military strikes on the area are a distinct possibility.