ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq is moving to block the usage of the GPS navigation application Waze in the country at the start of next year, Baghdad’s Communication Minister Mustafa Sanad confirmed to Rudaw on Tuesday, citing the company's ties to Israel.
“It [Waze] is from the entity [Israel]; it was created in Israel,” Sanad said in a statement to Rudaw's Nushin Heme, affirming, “We will ban the usage of the application in Iraq at the beginning of 2027.”
Waze is a community-driven navigation platform for smart devices that offers real-time traffic updates, turn-by-turn directions, rerouting options, and road hazard alerts.
Developed in Israel, the service began as FreeMap in 2006 before being renamed Waze in 2008, and was headquartered in the city of Ra'anana until Google acquired it in 2013 for nearly $1 billion. It stands apart from conventional mapping services such as Google Maps and Apple Maps through its heavy reliance on crowdsourced data from its active user base, known as "Wazers," who report accidents, police checkpoints, road closures, and traffic jams in real time.
Sanad explained that while Waze is “widely used in Iraq, alternatives exist, including Google Maps and Iraqi domestic navigation systems.”
Iraq has formally been in a state of war with Israel since the latter's establishment in 1948, and has never recognized it or established diplomatic relations. Most recently, in 2022, the Iraqi parliament unanimously passed an anti-normalization law criminalizing any diplomatic, political, military, economic, or cultural ties with Tel Aviv.
The latter law applies to all Iraqi citizens, state institutions, media outlets, foreign entities, and private companies operating inside Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region. Violations carry harsh penalties, up to and including life imprisonment or the death penalty.
The Iraqi minister spoke to Rudaw on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Hitex 2026 technological exhibition event in Erbil. He arrived at the Kurdistan Region capital on Monday and was welcomed by the Region’s Transport and Communication Minister Ano Abdoka.
