Iraq’s Al Zaidi sets militia disarmament deadline to July 2027 as talks with armed factions drag on

July 2027 — that’s the deadline Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi put on disarming the militant arms of Iraqi political groups in an interview with the New York Times. Iraq has been under pressure from Washington to disarm the groups it views as Iran-backed proxies in the country. The exact mechanics of the disarmament process are still being hashed out, but Al Zaidi pledged to see it through to the end, describing it as a top priority for his government, on par with his government’s campaign against corruption. Exact details about the disarmament mechanisms are now due on 30 September, as negotiations with the groups advance. REMEMBER- The timeline has moved once before: Al Zaidi first set 30 September of this year as a deadline for disarmament, coinciding with the planned full withdrawal of US forces. The deadline is now set for 30 July after objections from the concerned political groups, which are now also requesting the full withdrawal of Turkish military forces that have established a presence in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq for a few decades.

Hot potato

The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) secured preliminary approval from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) to acquire Banque Misr’s branches in the Emirates, the two state-owned lenders said in a joint statement (pdf). The banks called it a preliminary agreement to integrate their overseas banking presence into a single operation under UAE rules.

IN CONTEXT- Those are the same branches the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed on 28 August to cut off from correspondent banking access to American institutions, though the decision is not yet finalized and a 30-day public comment window is still open. The US regulator alleges the branches moved some USD 1.8 bn between January 2024 and June 2026 for 103 companies it links to Iranian shadow-banking networks. The proposed measure targets only the UAE branches. Banque Misr’s Egypt business and other overseas operations are not affected, the Central Bank of Egypt said at the time. The CBUAE launched its own investigation of the branches, looking at the same period covered by the US allegations.

Papers, please

Jordan is tightening the screws on foreign labor, issuing a 30 September deadline for foreign workers who entered the country irregularly to legalize their status. Non-compliant workers will be exposed to deportation, and their employers may face a fine of at least JOD 800 or USD 1.1k per violation, state news agency Petra reports.

The directive stems from a Labor Ministry decision issued in June, in which the government put a moratorium on foreign workers’ recruitment across most economic sectors. The decision aims to address the country’s structural unemployment crisis in a country that has seen unemployment rates in the double digits for decades. As of 1H 2026, Jordanian unemployment stood at 21%.