Source published: 1 Nov 2026 16:12 UTC
Urgency: Context · Evidence: Attributed claim
Shafaq reports that economist Manar al-Obaidi's Iraq Future compilation puts six major partners' exports to Iraq at about $23.7 billion in the first half of 2026, compared with $33.4 billion a year earlier, a roughly 29% decline. This covers selected trading partners, rather than Iraq's complete import bill. Recalculation supports the dashboard's arithmetic; the underlying official customs datasets were not independently audited.
What the sources establish
Manar al-Obaidi and Iraq Future are the compilation claimants. The dashboard compares China, the UAE, Türkiye, India, the EU and the US using stated national customs sources and currency conversions. Summing its 582 static data rows yields about $33.36 billion and $23.73 billion, a 28.9% decline consistent with the rounded 29% report. This arithmetic check uses the same compilation and is not independent verification of the official datasets, conversion methods or completeness. No causal conclusion about war, domestic demand or all Iraqi imports follows. No material conflicting dataset was inspected. The dashboard identifies November 2026 preparation without a precise release time. event_time is Shafaq's explicit 16:12:28Z publication truncated to the minute, not when trade occurred or the dashboard was created.
Evidence last checked: 1 Nov 2026 17:44 UTC.
1 Nov 2026 17:44 UTC — First published with explicit attribution, publication-based timing and a representative country marker; reported plans or analysis distinguished from independently measured outcomes.
Sources
- Shafaq News
original report of economist Manar al-Obaidi's six-partner trade compilation; attributed analysis, not an independent customs audit
- Iraq Future
primary November 2026 analyst dashboard with first-half 2025 and 2026 HS2 rows and declared customs sources; same underlying compilation, not independent corroboration