Winthrop Rodgers

Two revolutionary guards killed in attack in western Iran, state media say Two security personnel from Iran's Revolutionary Guards were killed in what state media said was "an anti-revolutionary attack" in the western district of Sarvabad on Tuesday.

Two revolutionary guards killed in attack in western Iran, state media say reut.rs/3KBubxy

Iraq recovers over 40,000 stolen artefacts taken since 2003 Iraq has retrieved over 40,000 stolen artefacts smuggled abroad since 2003, in a major effort to reclaim its looted cultural heritage.

Iraq has retrieved over 40,000 stolen artefacts smuggled abroad since 2003, in a major effort to reclaim its looted cultural heritage ⬇️

Kurdish studies is no longer an academic field in exile.
From Sulaimani to Exeter, a new generation of scholars is bringing it home to Kurdistan itself.
Full story by @wrodgers2.bsky.social in the comment.

Electric cars were a punchline in Iraq's Kurdistan Region a few years ago. Thanks to Chinese companies, that’s not the case anymore with plug-in hybrids leading the way. It's a story of global market dynamics meeting changing local conditions.
foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/23/i...

Iraqi Kurdistan’s EV Revolution Electric cars were a punchline here just a few years ago. Thanks to Chinese companies, that’s not the case anymore.

"Chinese automakers are likely to supply most of the new EVs. It is a consequence not only of Beijing’s growing soft power in Kurdistan—long a bastion of U.S. influence—but also of China’s ascent as a major automobile manufacturer in developing markets worldwide." @wrodgers2.bsky.social

Iraqi Kurdistan’s EV Revolution Electric cars were a punchline here just a few years ago. Thanks to Chinese companies, that’s not the case anymore.

NEW from me for @foreignpolicy.com: Electric cars were a punchline here just a few years ago. Thanks to Chinese companies, that’s not the case anymore with plug-in hybrids leading the way.

A story of global market dynamics meeting changing local conditions.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/23/i...

South Korea Raises Concern After U.S. Immigration Raid At Hyundai EV Battery Plant In Georgia U.S. immigration authorities detained around 450 people from a Hyundai EV battery plant in Georgia, including more than 300 South Korean nationals.

How to drive away foreign investment in the U.S.:
www.forbes.com/sites/siladi...

When voters in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region cast their ballots last October, a major question was how quickly the lawmakers they elected would form a government. More than ten months later, the prospect of a new KRG cabinet seems as remote as ever.

Why forming a government in Iraqi Kurdistan is so difficult Ten months after the elections, the prospect of a new government in Iraqi Kurdistan seems as remote as ever, pointing to a deeper institutional malaise

Since the 2018 regional elections, the Kurdistan Region has had more days where the legislative & executive branches either did not function or operated in a caretaker capacity—more than 1,300—than in ordinary government—1,215.

NEW from me in @thenewarab.bsky.social: www.newarab.com/analysis/why...

Solar power rising and energy shift in Kurdistan As summer heat intensifies in the KRI, many businesses and households are investing in solar power to reduce reliance on costly and polluting diesel generators

NEW from me in @thenewarab.bsky.social: “Business is booming for solar” in the sunny climate of Iraq's Kurdistan Region. Residents & businesses are looking for reliable power supply & lower bills. Upfront costs are lower these days with affordable systems from China.
www.newarab.com/features/sol...

US Aid Cuts Put the Future of Iraq's Demining Efforts at Risk The United States once supported groups clearing the life-threatening mines dotting Iraq. The Trump administration has changed all that.

The United States once supported groups clearing the life-threatening mines dotting Iraq. The Trump administration has changed that.

By: @wrodgers2.bsky.social

US Aid Cuts Put the Future of Iraq's Demining Efforts at Risk The United States once supported groups clearing the life-threatening mines dotting Iraq. The Trump administration has changed all that.

NEW from me for @inkstickmedia.com: 60% of funding for clearing landmines and leftover IEDs in Iraq came from the US, but this was eliminated by the Trump administration's foreign aid cuts. Now deminers are out of work and their communities still at risk.
inkstickmedia.com/us-aid-cuts-...

Knives, bullets and thieves: the quest for food in Gaza NPR's Gaza producer faced Israeli military fire, private U.S. contractors pointing laser beams at his forehead and masked thieves as he tried to get food from a U.S.-supported group.

NPR's Gaza producer faced Israeli military fire, private U.S. contractors pointing laser beams at his forehead and masked thieves as he tried to get food from a U.S.-supported group.

By Anas Baba

In Iraq, Mosul’s Women Find Freedom in Female-Only Transport After the end of ISIS rule, a groundbreaking taxi service is giving Mosul’s women new freedom on the road and beyond.

In Iraq, Mosul’s Women Find Freedom in Female-Only Transport
www.themiddleeastuncovered.com/p/in-iraq-mo...

The Iraqi government still hasn't sent the 2025 federal budget schedules to parliament for approval. It's almost July.
This year is a parliamentary elections year in Iraq, so anything goes really.

It was organized by Dakok, a civil society group founded in 2022.

Some other signs read:

“No Salaries, No Pensions
The Iraqi government and the KRG are failing us.”

“A nation without teachers is a nation without a future”

Members of the Kurdish diaspora held a protest in Glasgow and other cities in the UK today in solidarity with the public servants who tried to hold a demonstration today in Sulaimani.

Salaries are not just an economic issue but “a matter of respect and dignity,” one speaker said.

As Iraq enters election season, Baghdad-Erbil tensions soar Tensions between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government are soaring over oil, gas, and the budget, providing ample campaign fodder for upcoming elections

NEW from me for @thenewarab.bsky.social: Tensions between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government are soaring over oil, gas, and the budget, providing ample campaign fodder for upcoming elections.

www.newarab.com/analysis/ira...

Yeah, thumbs up.

Today was nothing less than a total success. There's your headline! Write that down.

We're on live television.

Then make it into a graphic. A fun one that spins in. (whooshing) "Total success!"

Dukan's surface area shrank by 56 percent between the end of May 2019, the last year it was completely full, and the beginning of June 2025.

Iraq’s Dukan reservoir drops to 20-year low, forcing rationing Dwindling rains and damming upstream by Iran and Turkey have forced strict water rationing for 4 million Iraqis.

Kurdistan Region's Dukan reservoir drops to 20-year low, forcing rationing, reports @en.afp.com
www.scmp.com/news/world/m...

Iranians buying supplies in Iraq tell of fear, shortages back home Near the once-bustling Iraqi border crossing of Bashmakh, Iranian driver Fatah stocked up on rice, sugar and tea, staples that have become increasingly hard to get back home.

Fatah was among dozens of truck drivers waiting impatiently to cross back into Iran from Iraq's northern Kurdistan region, hauling not only their commercial cargo, but also essential goods for their families after days of Israeli attacks.
www.france24.com/en/live-news...

Astonishing that only 16% of Americans think the US should join Israel’s war on Iran but so few Democrats are speaking out against it. The gaping disconnect between Dem politicians and the Dem base we saw on Gaza continues to cripple effective opposition.

How Kurdish groups in Iran are reacting to Israel’s war Amid Israel’s war of aggression, Iranian Kurdish parties sense an opportunity to advance their demands, with calls ranging from regime change to an uprising

NEW from me for @thenewarab.bsky.social: With the Israel-Iran war, it’s a tense time in Iranian Kurdistan. Parties like KDPI and Komala sense an opportunity to advance their demands, but there are numerous challenges and risks - not least for Kurdish civilians.
www.newarab.com/analysis/how...

Contentious government formation in Iraq's Kurdistan Region could scupper reform efforts - Kalam Voters in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq cast ballots in the region’s parliamentary election on 20 October, more than two years after they were originally

For my thoughts at the time, check out my piece for
@chmenap.bsky.social. I think these fundamentals hold, but are now more complicated because of the upcoming federal elections in November, salary disputes with Baghdad, and the regional security situation.
kalam.chathamhouse.org/articles/con...

Masrour Barzani was nominated as KRG PM on Day 254 of the previous cycle, which will fall on July 1 this time.

The full cabinet was confirmed on Day 238, which will be July 30.

So, there's about six weeks before we are well and truly past the timeline of the 2018-19 cycle.

After the Oct 20 Kurdistan Parliament election, I wrote for
@chmenap.bsky.social that government formation would be "exceedingly difficult."

It's more than 240 days since the election and officially going slower than last time. In the 2018-19 cycle, that's when a KR President was picked.

How Kurdish groups in Iran are reacting to Israel’s war Amid Israel’s war of aggression, Iranian Kurdish parties sense an opportunity to advance their demands, with calls ranging from regime change to an uprising

How Kurdish groups in Iran are reacting to Israel's war by @wrodgers2.bsky.social via @newarab.com.web.brid.gy

www.newarab.com/analysis/how...

According to a diplomatic source, the US consulate in Erbil is also on ordered departure.