There was some fast breaking news on the oil front in Iraq. The Oil Ministry announced it was in talks with Iran to allow some tankers full of Iraqi petroleum to sail through the Strait of Hormuz which has been closed during the war. By the middle of the day Oil minister Hayan Abdul Ghani said that an agreement had been made on the issue. It would be quite an irony if Iraq and other countries are successful in these operations because it would make Tehran more powerful in the Persian Gulf as Trump keeps announcing that the U.S. is winning.
At the same time the dispute between Irbil and Baghdad to send oil through the KRG-Turkey pipeline seemed deadlock but then another deal was completed at the end of the day. The pipeline is supposed to be opened on March 18 and use both Kurdish and Kirkuk oil. This still appears a fragile arrangement due to the differences between the two sides.
A problem for Iraq is that its oil facilities continue to come under attack by Iran and its allies. 2 drones hit the Majnoon oil field in Basra. A communications tower and an office belonging to the service company KBR were hit. Work at the country’s fields will be below capacity since the war has led to most of the foreigners being withdrawn from the industry.
On March 16 a drone was shot down over Samarra in Salahaddin. There was no news about who it belonged to.
The U.S. continues to be more precise in its attacks. A building in the Jadriya neighborhood of Baghdad was struck. At first it appeared to be a meeting of pro-Iran Resistance leaders. Later it was reported that four commanders in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) including a senior officer in charge of coordinating with the Resistance were all victims.
The U.S. and Israel have already taken out the spokesman for Kataib Hezbollah and perhaps its leader as well. Killing four IRGC members would be another escalation.
Several Resistance units and allies were targeted during the day. An airstrike hit Harakat al-Nujaba’s 12th Hashd Brigade in Nabai, Baghdad wounding three. A drone struck Kataib Imam Ali’s 40th Hashd Brigade in Dibis, Kirkuk. In the same province a US Apache Helicopter fired at the same unit. Members of the Army’s 8th Division responded and was shot up as well. This was the third reported use of an Apache within Iraq. A tribal Hashd unit in Anbar’s Thar Thar witnessed an airstrike that wounded a commander.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is coming under increasing attack after air defenses were successfully penetrated on March 14. There were at least three waves of drones sent against the facility without at least one drone hitting. Smoke was seen rising from the Victoria base at Baghdad Airport. Overall the Resistance claimed 47 operations in Iraq and the Middle East on March 17.
SOURCES
Agence France Presse, “Security source says US embassy struck as explosions heard in Baghdad," 3/17/26
Al Alam, “A pre-dawn meal with missiles and drones: The embassy’s C-Ram missile ignites Baghdad’s night, and the Jadriya raid assassinates leaders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” 3/17/26
Asharq Al-Awsat, “Iraq in Talks with Iran to Safeguard Oil Tanker Traffic Through Hormuz,” 3/17/26
Bas News, “Iraq Secures Iran Approval for Oil Tankers to Transit Strait of Hormuz: Oil Minister,” 3/17/26
- “PM Barzani Says Oil Exports to Resume as Talks With Baghdad Continue” 3/17/26
Kurdistan 24, “Missile, Drone Attacks on U.S. Embassy and Deadly Jadriya Strike Trigger Security Lockdown in Baghdad,” 3/17/26
- “PM Barzani Announces Imminent Resumption of Kurdistan Region Oil Exports Amid Ongoing Talks with Baghdad,” 3/17/26
Al Mada, “The Ceyhan Crisis Exposes Factional Control Over Oil and the “Siege of Kurdisdtan”!” 3/17/26
Rudaw, “Erbil, Baghdad reach agreement on oil exports,” 3/17/26
Salem, Amr, “Two drones target Iraq’s Majnoon oil field,” Iraqi News, 3/17/26
Al-Samarraie, Jawad, “LIVE: Baghdad Green Zone alert- drone strikes and security update,” 3/17/26
Shafaq News, “Air defense forces shoot down a drone in Samarra,” 3/16/26
- “An airstrike targeted a tribal mobilization headquarters in Anbar,” 3/17/26
- “Apache helicopter fire targets Iraqi Army’s 8th Division position in Kirkuk,” 3/17/26
- “A drone crashed near the US embassy in central Baghdad,” 3/17/26
- “A drone strike targeted a Popular Mobilization Forces site northwest of Kirkuk (video),” 3/17/26
- “The Iraqi resistance announces it carried out 47 operations in 24 hours,” 3/17/26
- “Neither Al-Amiri nor Abu Alaa … a “high value” Iranian goal behind the Al-Jadriya strike,” 3/17/26
Al Sumaria, “Bombing targets Popular Mobilization Forces in Al-naba’i, casualties reported,” 3/17/26
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