BAGHDAD: Iraq has been negotiating with Turkey and Iran to minimize the effects of the two countries’ water policies on its territories, Iraqi Deputy Minister of Water Resources Mahdi Rasheed told Arab News on Wednesday.
Rasheed said that the talks were aimed at finding common solutions to an expected water crisis in the summer.
Iraq mainly relies on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and rainwater to provide its fresh water needs. Both rivers originate from outside Iraq, and Turkey, Iran and Syria have controlled the release of water into Iraq for decades.
A decline in rainfall during the past two months, increasing rates of evaporation caused by high temperatures and a lack of water imports from Turkey and Iran, mean Iraq’s southern provinces have been suffering a serious shortage of water.
The crisis is expected to worsen after the completion of the Alesso dam and Turkey’s announcement of its intention to fill the dam’s reservoirs in March.
Iraq last week filed a formal request to Turkey to postpone the filling of the Alesso dam from March to June to help Iraq “overcome the period of water scarcity.”
“The water shortage crisis still exists. If Turkey insists on filling the reservoirs of the (Allesso) dam in March, we will certainly be hurt,” Rasheed said. “We will have to rely on our water reservoirs to secure the demands of agriculture and drinking water. As a ministry we are thinking about the future; it is not logical to empty our (water) reservoir.”
Iraq is seeking to benefit from the season of melting of snow, which begins in March, to replenish its water reservoirs. Iraqi officials involved in the talks with Turkey have presented an alternative plan for the Turkish side to fill the reservoirs without depriving Iraq of water during March to June.
According to the suggested Iraqi plan, the filling period of the Turkish dam would last for a maximum of four years and minimum of seven months, depending on rainfall.
“The Turkish side understands our problem,” said Rasheed, who heads the Iraqi delegation negotiating with the Kurdish side on the joint water issues.
“We recognize their right to fill the dam but we have a problem. We agree that the dam will help us to control the water release and organize water policy, but the problem is their (the Turkish) plan to fill it (the dam),” he said.
“We are still waiting for their response to our request and we expect that they will answer us next week.”
Rasheed said that Iraq is facing similar problems with Iran, which has cut the water imports of the Tigris river from 40 percent to 15 percent due to the projects and dams that Iran has established on the river during the past years.
The almost-completed Daryan dam, which Iran is building on the Tigris river, 28 km away from the Iraqi-Iranian border, and the 47 km-long tunnel it has dug near it to divert the river into Iran, is the biggest concern for Iraqi officials.
“Iran is trying to divert the course of the (Tigris) river. In this case even the (amount) that we receive now will be cut and will not reach us,” Rasheed said.
Iran-Turkey water policy leaves Iraq dry
Iran-Turkey water policy leaves Iraq dry
Labor members pressure Australian govt to impose Israel sanctions
- Campaigner: ‘There is a deep frustration that Australia has failed to move beyond words’
- PM Albanese: Gaza blockade ‘an outrage’ and ‘completely untenable’
LONDON: Australia’s Labor government is under pressure from its own party activists to impose sanctions on Israel.
A motion will be put to members of the party drafted by the Labor Friends of Palestine group to call on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to impose measures on people and groups involved in war crimes in Gaza and the displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank. It also calls on the government to “redouble” efforts to secure a ceasefire.
LFP’s Peter Moss told The Guardian: “There is a deep frustration that Australia has failed to move beyond words and take effective action under international law to protect the Palestinian people and hold Israel accountable.”
He added: “We are seeing a surge in anger and frustration among Labor members and the broader community. Labor Friends of Palestine is signing up a stream of new members horrified by the genocide.
“There are many Labor voters and supporters who cannot accept Australia’s failure to act effectively under international law to stop the starvation.”
Last week, Australia condemned Israel’s months-long blockade of the Gaza Strip, signing a statement alongside 22 other nations including the UK, Canada and New Zealand.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Israel “cannot allow the suffering” in Gaza to continue, and statements by several Israeli ministers about the situation in the Palestinian enclave are “abhorrent and outrageous.”
Wong made the remarks after holding talks with her Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar on Friday.
But the Australian government did not go as far as to say it was considering targeted sanctions, unlike fellow signatories the UK, Canada and France, which is co-chairing a UN meeting in June on Palestinian statehood with Saudi Arabia. Australia is set to participate in the conference.
Moss told The Guardian: “At a minimum, Australia should immediately support the statement from the UK, France and Canada and prepare sanctions targeted at Israeli officials responsible for using starvation as a weapon of war.”
On Monday, Albanese called Israel’s blockade — preventing vital aid reaching millions of Palestinian civilians — “completely untenable” and “an outrage,” adding that he had conveyed his feelings personally to Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Labor MP Ed Husic praised Albanese’s comments on ABC radio station on Tuesday, but said Australia needs to do more to pressure Israel and alleviate the suffering of Palestinians.
He added that sanctions of individuals and organizations are “probably under consideration” by the government to “exert maximum international pressure to stop this blockade.”
At an event for Gaza at Parliament House on Tuesday night, Sen. David Pocock, an independent, said: “If the horror unfolding in Gaza is not our country’s red line for stronger action, then I don’t know what is.”
Mohammed Mustafa, a British doctor who has been working in Gaza, also spoke at the event, calling on the Australian government to do more.
“You don’t have to be a major player to feed children. You don’t have to be a major player to heal children,” he said. “We need healers in the Middle East, and Australia can be the healer. It can lead the world.”
Lebanese president holds talks with Emirati delegation in Beirut
- Nawaf Salam in Dubai says reform and sovereignty require arms exclusivity
BEIRUT: A delegation from the UAE arrived in Beirut on Tuesday to review the needs and priorities of the Lebanese state, following the results of the Lebanese-Emirati summit that took place at the end of April in Abu Dhabi.
President Joseph Aoun, who met with the delegation, praised the “interest of the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, in supporting Lebanon.”
The delegation was led by Abdulla Nasser Lootah, deputy minister of cabinet affairs for competitiveness and knowledge exchange.
During the meeting, Aoun said, according to his media office: “The current phase necessitates the expansion of cooperation and the deepening of exchange and integration in education, governance, and public sector management, extending to private sector initiatives and various investments, particularly in knowledge economies, digitization, and advanced technology, where the expertise of our brothers in the United Arab Emirates is significant in these areas.”
Lootah outlined the delegation’s mission to “define partnership frameworks and facilitate data exchange,” emphasizing that “the UAE will stand with Lebanon in realizing the aspirations articulated by President Aoun during his discussions with our leadership. We are committed to delivering comprehensive support that strengthens bilateral cooperation, guided by extensive facilitation measures and leadership’s directives.”
An extensive technical session between Lebanese and Emirati officials addressed key modernization priorities.
Presidential sources indicated the talks concentrated on “collaborative mechanisms for streamlining administrative processes, advancing digital transformation, strengthening legal frameworks, and improving public sector efficiency through bilateral knowledge transfer and technical assistance programs.”
Concurrently, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam addressed the Dubai Media Summit, declaring Lebanon’s emergence “from the debris of multiple crises, determined to reclaim its identity, voice, and statehood after years of debilitating sectarian divisions, conflicts, and external interference.”
Salam outlined his administration’s core principle: “Our governmental approach links reform with sovereignty, necessitating weapons monopolization under state authority. Lebanon must escape the arms duality that created decision-making duality and undermined our national project.
“Our Lebanese vision represents practical policy, not idealistic thinking,” Salam said. “We envision a constitutional state governed by institutions rather than sectarian allocations and patronage networks — a sovereign entity free from external control, a decision-making state rather than a battleground for regional conflicts.”
The prime minister concluded with Lebanon's strategic positioning: “We seek a Lebanon controlling its destiny in both peace and war, firmly anchored in Arab identity while maintaining global openness, serving as an East-West communication bridge.”
Salam believes that “now that Lebanon has returned to the Arab fold, it longs to the active return of its Arab brothers, based on partnership and complementarity.”
He thanked the UAE and its president for “their supportive decisions and for allowing the brotherly Emirati people to visit Lebanon, their second country, again.”
He pointed out that “about 190,000 Lebanese live and work with utmost dedication and sincerity in the UAE, their second country, where they enjoy safety, security and quality of life.”
The Lebanese prime minister mentioned “the ongoing Israeli occupation of our territory,” and the “daily Israeli violations of our sovereignty, while we work on fully implementing decision 1701, and commit to the cessation of hostilities.”
Salam emphasized that “Beirut was and still is a beacon for expression, a hub of freedoms, and a loud Arab voice in the face of darkness and closed-mindedness. Lebanon, this small country in its geography, deep in its wounds, and rich in its cultural and human heritage, is determined to reclaim its place at the heart of the Arab world and on the map of the future despite all the storms,” he said.
Salam also mentioned the challenges facing the media these days, when “media is no longer a true reflection, but a tool that shapes the public opinion, as well as peace and strife.”
Those challenges, he said, required a new discourse.
“Today, we stand at a historic crossroads in the region; a delicate regional moment that calls for a new media discourse. One that counters efforts at marginalization and fragmentation and rekindles hope.
“We seek a modern, dynamic and diverse Arab media that shapes the future and does not dwell upon the past. One that opens windows rather than shuts them. That safeguards freedom rather than exploits it. The discourse, when truthful, can serve as a bridge toward more humane and cohesive societies.”
Women in Sudan’s Darfur at ‘near-constant risk’ of sexual violence: MSF
- The reported attacks in Darfur have been "heinous and cruel, often involving multiple perpetrators," according to MSF emergency coordinator Claire San Filippo
- "Women and girls do not feel safe anywhere," said San Filippo
PORT SUDAN: Sexual violence is a "near-constant risk" for women and girls in Sudan's western region of Darfur, Doctors without Borders (MSF) warned on Wednesday, calling for urgent action to protect civilians and provide support to survivors.
Since war began in April 2023 between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the reported attacks in Darfur have been "heinous and cruel, often involving multiple perpetrators," according to MSF emergency coordinator Claire San Filippo.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and left the country's already fragile infrastructure in ruins.
The RSF has been accused since the start of the war of systematic sexual violence across the country.
"Women and girls do not feel safe anywhere," said San Filippo, after MSF teams from Darfur and neighbouring Chad gathered harrowing accounts of victims.
"They are attacked in their own homes, when fleeing violence, getting food, collecting firewood, working in the fields. They tell us they feel trapped," she added.
Between January 2024 and March 2025, MSF said it had treated 659 survivors of violence in South Darfur, 94 percent of them women and girls.
More than half were assaulted by armed actors, and nearly a third were minors, with some victims as young as five.
In Tawila, a small town about 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the west from North Darfur's besieged capital of El-Fasher, 48 survivors of sexual violence were treated at the local hospital between January and early May.
Most arrived after fleeing an RSF attack on the Zamzam displacement camp that killed at least 200 civilians and displaced over 400,000.
In eastern Chad, which hosts over 800,000 Sudanese refugees, MSF treated 44 survivors since January 2025 -- almost half of them children.
A 17-year-old girl recounted being gang-raped by RSF fighters, saying: "I wanted to lose my memory after that."
According to Ruth Kauffman, MSF emergency medical manager, "access to services for survivors of sexual violence is lacking and, like most humanitarian and healthcare services in Sudan, must urgently be scaled up".
"People -- mostly women and girls -- who suffer sexual violence urgently need medical care, including psychological support and protection services," she added.
Sudan war shatters infrastructure, costly rebuild needed
- The Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been battling since April 2023
- Tens of thousands of people have been killed or injured and about 13 million were uprooted
KHARTOUM: Destroyed bridges, blackouts, empty water stations and looted hospitals across Sudan bear witness to the devastating impact on infrastructure from two years of war.
Authorities estimate hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of reconstruction would be needed. Yet there is little chance of that in the short-term given continued fighting and drone attacks on power stations, dams and fuel depots.
Not to mention a world becoming more averse to foreign aid where the biggest donor, the US, has slashed assistance.
The Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been battling since April 2023, with tens of thousands of people killed or injured and about 13 million uprooted in what aid groups call the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Residents of the capital Khartoum have to endure weeks-long power outages, unclean water and overcrowded hospitals. Their airport is burnt out with shells of planes on the runway.
Most of the main buildings in downtown Khartoum are charred and once-wealthy neighborhoods are ghost towns with destroyed cars and unexploded shells dotting the streets.
“Khartoum is not habitable. The war has destroyed our life and our country and we feel homeless even though the army is back in control,” said Tariq Ahmed, 56.
He returned briefly to his looted home in the capital before leaving it again, after the army recently pushed the RSF out of Khartoum.
One consequence of the infrastructure breakdown can be seen in a rapid cholera outbreak that has claimed 172 deaths out of 2,729 cases over the past week alone mainly in Khartoum.
Other parts of central and western Sudan, including the Darfur region, are similarly ravaged by fighting, while the extensive damage in Khartoum, once the center of service provision, reverberates across the country.
Sudanese authorities estimate reconstruction needs at $300 billion for Khartoum and $700 billion for the rest of Sudan.
The UN is doing its own estimates.
Sudan’s oil production has more than halved to 24,000 barrels-per-day and its refining capabilities ceased as the main Al-Jaili oil refinery sustained $3 billion in damages during battles, Oil and Energy Minister Mohieddine Naeem said.
Without refining capacity, Sudan now exports all its crude and relies on imports, he said. It also struggles to maintain pipelines needed by South Sudan for its own exports.
Earlier this month, drones targeted fuel depots and the airport at the country’s main port city in an attack Sudan blamed on the UAE. The Gulf country denied the accusations.
All of Khartoum’s power stations have been destroyed, Naeem said. The national electrical company recently announced a plan to increase supply from Egypt to northern Sudan and said earlier in the year that repeated drone attacks to stations outside Khartoum were stretching its ability to keep the grid going.
Looted copper
Government forces re-took Khartoum earlier this year and as people return to houses turned upside down by looters, one distinctive feature has been deep holes drilled into walls and roads to uncover valuable copper wire.
On Sudan’s Nile Street, once its busiest throughway, there is a ditch about one meter (three feet) deep and 4 km (2.5 miles) long, stripped of wiring and with traces of burning.
Khartoum’s two main water stations went out of commission early in the war as RSF soldiers looted machinery and used fuel oil to power vehicles, according to Khartoum state spokesperson Altayeb Saadeddine.
Those who have remained in Khartoum resort to drinking water from the Nile or long-forgotten wells, exposing them to waterborne illnesses. But there are few hospitals equipped to treat them.
“There has been systematic sabotage by militias against hospitals, and most medical equipment has been looted and what remains has been deliberately destroyed,” said Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim, putting losses to the health system at $11 billion.
With two or three million people looking at returning to Khartoum, interventions were needed to avoid further humanitarian emergencies like the cholera outbreak, said United Nations Development Programme resident representative Luca Renda.
But continued war and limited budget means a full-scale reconstruction plan is not in the works.
“What we can do ... with the capacity we have on the ground, is to look at smaller-scale infrastructure rehabilitation,” he said, like solar-power water pumps, hospitals, and schools.
In that way, he said, the war may provide an opportunity for decentralizing services away from Khartoum, and pursuing greener energy sources.
