US special envoy for Syria and Iraq, Thomas Barrack, arrived in Baghdad on Monday ahead of his meeting with the Kurdistan Region’s leaders in Erbil on Tuesday amid a political deadlock in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Iraq has exported around 600,000 tons of fuel oil through Syria since early April, a Syrian Petroleum Company official said, as Baghdad increasingly relies on alternative export routes amid continued disruptions to traditional Gulf shipping lanes.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Monday welcomed the agreement between Tehran and Washington, following months of conflict that began in late February.

Pearl Petroleum has proposed a $10.2 billion capital investment plan spanning from 2026 to 2035 with aims of more than doubling its natural gas production in the Kurdistan Region.

US President Donald Trump announced late Sunday that a peace deal with Iran had been finalized, while Tehran confirmed an agreement that would bring an “immediate and permanent” end to military operations across all fronts, including Lebanon, marking what appears to be the end of more than three months of conflict in the Middle East.

Archaeologists working at the ancient site of Kurd Qaburstan southwest of Erbil have uncovered what researchers describe the clearest archaeological records of Bronze Age siege warfare ever found in northern Mesopotamia, including cuneiform tablets, burned buildings and the remains of people killed during the city's destruction around 4,000 years ago.

Iranian media reported late Sunday that flights have been suspended in the western part of the country but no NOTAM has been issued yet amid an anticipated Iranian response to Israel's latest attack on Lebanon.

Baghdad and Erbil have reached an agreement to develop security plans to protect oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region, the military spokesperson for the Iraqi prime minister announced on Sunday.