Heritage blending with digital shift: Baghdad revives historic post office

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq reopened its historic postal headquarters inside Baghdad’s al-Qishla building on Monday, as Communications Minister Mustafa Sanad pledged to modernize postal services while preserving one of the capital’s oldest state institutions.

Speaking during the reopening ceremony, Sanad described the move as both a revival of Iraq’s postal legacy and a step toward adapting the sector to technological change. “This is a restoration of the old postal system in the age of artificial intelligence and email,” he said, noting that the historic building once served as a hub for international mail routes crossing the region.

“We look to the future without forgetting heritage and identity,” Sanad stressed, saying that the hands that once placed stamps on letters "belonged to our grandfathers, while today their grandchildren work on computers so Iraq can move forward with two wings: authenticity and modernity.”

The minister said the government had also coordinated with the Cabinet Secretariat to require ministries and provincial authorities to use Iraq’s postal service exclusively for transporting official documents.

According to Sanad, the measure aims to modernize document handling, strengthen state archiving systems, and support the state-owned postal company through low-cost official services.