Iraqi Supreme Court Ruling May Reignite Kurdish Oil Dispute

After promising indications that the Iraqi federal government would ease up on its legislative war with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over the latter’s unilateral oil contracts and exports, the Federal Supreme Court delivered a setback Wednesday, ruling budget transfers to the KRG illegal. The decision comes as Erbil and Baghdad appeared to be close to reaching a deal on the constitution, which would have calmed a long-running feud over the KRG’s portion of the federal Iraqi budget, which has been in question due to its independent…