Iraq Situation Report: March 4 -10, 2020

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.

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