Iraq Vulnerabilities Laid Bare by Israel-Iran Conflict

27 Jun 2025 Issue: 68 / 26 By: Yesar Al-Maleki

Iraq has emerged largely unscathed from the 12-day Israel-Iran conflict. But the crisis highlights how vulnerable the country is to external geopolitical developments. On the upside, Iranian gas flows are up, although Kurdistan’s cross-border oil exports to Iran have ground to a halt.

Iraq is breathing a sigh of relief after the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Iran came into effect, ending 12 days of hostilities. With Iran opting to retaliate against the US military in Qatar rather than its usual choice of Iraq, the country has weathered the storm.

The conflict between Iran and Israel laid bare many of Iraq’s vulnerabilities, chief among them its dependence on Gulf terminals and the Strait of Hormuz for 99% of federal oil exports. This reliance was already an acknowledged vulnerability, but the events of the past two weeks could provide the government with a renewed impetus to build pipelines to alternative export terminals to provide flexibility and resilience (MEES, 3 January). This has become more urgent as the northern export pipeline to Turkey’s Mediterranean terminal of Ceyhan has been offline for more than two years, depriving Baghdad of an alternative route to markets for at least a small portion of its crude. (CONTINUED - 1110 WORDS)