News, Rumors and Opinions Sunday 6-14-2026
KTFA:
Clare: Al-Monitor: Tom Barrack will visit Erbil and Baghdad
6/13/2026
The US President's Special Envoy to Syria and Iraq and Washington's Ambassador to Ankara, Tom Barrack, will begin a diplomatic and security tour next Monday that includes the federal capital Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region's capital Erbil. This is his first tour since assuming his official duties, and it aims to discuss disarmament issues and redraw energy trade routes in the region.
A report published by the US website “Al-Monitor” on Friday, June 12, 2026, stated that Barak will hold extensive talks in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and senior political leaders, where the American side will focus on demanding the disbanding and disarmament of armed factions, especially those involved in the attacks that targeted American diplomats last April.
In his second stop scheduled for Tuesday, the US envoy will travel to Erbil for high-level meetings with President Masoud Barzani, Regional President Nechirvan Barzani, and Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.
The report also revealed a prominent regional agenda that includes a planned meeting between Barak in Erbil with the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi.
These accelerated diplomatic moves come amid severe economic complications, as Iraqi oil exports have fallen to a record low of 3.3 million barrels to 600,000 barrels per day due to current tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and the repercussions of US sanctions.
Through this tour, Washington seeks to redirect Iraq’s energy and trade compass towards Turkey and Syria to reduce economic dependence on Tehran, as reflected in the preliminary meeting held by Barak with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan before the start of his tour.
On the political front, observers cautiously noted the flexibility shown by the Sadrist movement and armed groups such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq regarding the handover of weapons, placing these steps within the framework of an Iranian tactic to maneuver and alleviate international pressures coinciding with the nuclear negotiations.
Barak’s tour is of great strategic importance given its timing, as Washington is accelerating its efforts to undermine Tehran’s regional influence in Iraq, ahead of the scheduled date for the complete withdrawal of US forces next September. LINK
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Tink: The events of the region determine the economic paths of Iraq. A financial crisis, a rise in prices and a change in the value of the dinar
Information/Report...
The events of the region directly affect the economic situation of Iraq, which is at the heart of the hurricane witnessed by the countries of the so-called Middle East, after the war invented by America against the Islamic Republic and the repercussions of this on the Strait of Hormuz, are all factors that may lead governments, especially in Iraq, to take decisions that mitigate the extent of the damage, but make the people pay the tax, by reducing the value of salaries in case of going towards devaluing the dinar, and following the policy of austerity and raising the amounts of fees in various sectors, which will harm the citizen.
“Everyone, whether in Iraq, its government and the rest of the world, is monitoring the developments of the current scene in the region, and awaits the outcome of the indirect negotiations between the American and Iranian sides,” says Imran Karkoush, a member of the State of Law Coalition.
He added that "the Iraqi economy has been affected by the developments in the region and military escalation, as Iraq is awaiting the results of negotiations between Washington and Tehran in order to restore the situation to what it was before in the Strait of Hormuz."
He pointed out that "Iraq was directly affected by the ongoing war in the region, as the government is waiting for the end of this file and closing it and work to strengthen relations within the region and build strong economic ties through the railway and commercial link between the countries of the region, Iraq and the world, as Iraq is currently in the heart of the storm and is directly affected by current events."
For his part, the economist Zia Al-Mohsen explained to /Al-Malma/, that "the government of Mustafa Al-Kazimi was the first to take the step of raising the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar under the pretext of providing financial liquidity and addressing the pressures on public revenues as a result of the repercussions of the Corona pandemic, and therefore any new economic measures must comply with the requirements of the local market and take into account the living conditions of citizens."
He added that "raising the exchange rate will lead to a decrease in the purchasing power of the citizen and weaken the real value of employees' salaries, in addition to causing a rise in the prices of goods and food, which reflects negatively on the standard of living of the Iraqi family."
Al-Mohsen pointed out that "addressing financial crises should not depend on burdening the citizen with additional burdens, but rather through the activation of productive economic sectors, foremost of which are the agricultural, industrial and manufacturing sectors, which contributes to diversifying sources of income and reducing dependence on oil revenues."
He pointed out that "the government may resort to other measures beyond raising the exchange rate, including reducing or canceling some forms of subsidies provided for fuel or food and medicine in order to increase public revenues," stressing that "such steps will be directly reflected on the citizen because they target his daily spending and living capacity."
On a related level, the political researcher Qassem Al-Tamimi said in his interview with /Al-Malama/, that "Iraq has internal debts of up to 90 billion dollars and foreign affairs of the limits of 30 billion dollars obtained by Iraq through borrowing due to the decline in cash flow inside."
He added that "there is a difficulty that the government will face in the process of controlling the dollar currency in local markets, especially since this currency is directly linked to the US Federal Bank, as Iraq depends on oil sales that reach the said bank before being sent to Baghdad."
He added that "Iraq suffers from many problems caused by the current situation in the region after the significant decline in oil sales, and this clearly affected securing liquidity, and therefore the Zaidi government faces a great challenge with regard to the financial and economic situation."
Courtesy of Dinar Guru: https://www.dinarguru.com/
Militia Man They're not going to go out into the international markets without having an international accepted traded currency, not on an international scale. The dinar is not there at 1310...Iraq's full integration is becoming a reality.
Jeff The central bank of Iraq is never going to let the rate out. They can't. They can't even tell you the rate is going to increase ...They can tell you they have no intentions of devaluing the dinar, which they have and they could tell you if they are going to devalue the dinar. Those are the only two things they could tell you.
Mnt Goat Article: “PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE: THE 2026 BUDGET WILL BE BASED ON A “HEDGING” OIL PRICE OF AROUND $60" ...the budget is NOT based on the rate of the dinar... There will not be an RV rate to the dinar in the budget tables! ...the budget is based on the price of oil. This will continue until the dinar is repegged to a basket of currencies and back on FOREX. Until this timeframe they will continue to use the petro-dollar which is the price of oil...We are NOT going to get our RV because of the budget coming out...
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SILVER ALERT! It's Happening! Silver Riggers & Liars are TRAPPED! WHEN Will They BREAK?!
(Bix Weir) 6-14-2026
There are consequences to rigging the price of silver too low for too long and we are starting to see them NOW!
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