UA-69458566-1

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Iraq Situation Report: March 4- 10, 2020

By: Katherine Lawlor and Brandon Wallace

ISW is assessing the ongoing unrest and its effects on political-security dynamics in Iraq. The Iraq Situation Report (SITREP) map series summarizes key events and likely developments to come. The following SITREP map covers the period March 4 - 10, 2020. 


Key Takeaway: Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (HHN), a U.S. Designated Terrorist Group and Iranian proxy, may have begun a round of escalations against U.S. personnel in Iraq. The group has escalated its rhetorical threats against U.S. persons since mid-February and may have graduated to rocket attacks directed at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. A March 5 rocket attack does not match the pattern of previous proxy attacks and signals that HHN may be acting on its threats. Meanwhile, the combination of rising COVID-19 cases and plummeting global oil prices threatens to exacerbate the instability of Iraq’s already fractious government, which relies on oil revenues for nearly 90 percent of its budget.

Click image below to enlarge. Download the PDF here.