Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi media figure Qusay Shafiq was arrested on Monday, Communications Minister Mustafa Sanad said, without disclosing the reason for his detention.

Sanad said Shafiq had been detained about an hour earlier “in the act,” but gave no details about the alleged offense, the authority behind the arrest, or any charges.

The announcement followed Sanad’s sharing of a post in which Shafiq accused the minister of favoring one company over its competitors through preferential treatment.

Read more: Judicial freeze: Iraq's new national 5G carrier on hold

Shafaq News- Beirut

A series of Israeli airstrikes targeted Kfar Tibnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa in southern Lebanon, while a large explosion was reported in Bani Hayyan, with no casualties reported, Lebanese media outlets said on Monday.

Another airstrike hit the al-Reyhan area along the Sajd road, killing one person, according to local reports.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun described the ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon, including the killing of civilians, the destruction and burning of homes, and property damage, as condemned, unacceptable, and unjustified crimes.

Following a meeting with French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, Aoun added that the attacks target the framework agreement and undermine efforts to halt the escalation in southern Lebanon and the wider region.

The Lebanese president reaffirmed his country’s commitment to the international peacekeeping mission, noting that Lebanon is coordinating with French President Emmanuel Macron to facilitate the renewal of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mandate.

Earlier, Lebanon’s Health Ministry stated that nine people were killed and 13 others wounded in Israeli strikes across the Nabatieh district.

The Ministry put the cumulative toll from Israeli attacks between March 2 and Sept. 6 at 4,362 killed and 12,378 wounded.

The Lebanese Armed Forces have documented more than 5,000 Israeli attacks on the country since the framework agreement was signed in June, a Lebanese military official told CNN.

Shafaq News- Tehran

Iranian protesters attacked Iraqi students at their residence in the Ferdowsi area of Semnan on Monday evening, marking the second incident in 24 hours.

الحالة الثانية خلال 24 ساعة.. شباب ايرانيون يهاجمون طلبة عراقيين في سكنهم بفردوسي بمدينة مشهد#شفق_نيوز #العراق #ايران #اكسبلور pic.twitter.com/nWaSq7ZIdT

— شفق نيوز - shafaq news (@shafaqnewsarb) September 7, 2026

Videos obtained by Shafaq News showed Iraqi students carrying sticks, with some calling for knives while others urged their colleagues to contact local police.

Semnan University moved all exams for Iraqi students online on Monday evening and told students with passports they could leave the city starting Tuesday morning, according to instructions shared with students and confirmed by students to Shafaq News. Those who had not yet received their passports were told they could collect them from the university at 7:00 a.m. local time before leaving Semnan.

Semnan province’s chief justice, Mohammad Sadegh Akbari, said authorities had identified two people involved in the confrontation and summoned them for questioning, while investigations continued to identify others. He also disputed reports published by what he called “hostile media,” saying they did not match preliminary findings and that the incident should be assessed based on official reports and further investigations.

Earlier today, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry called for legal action over the incident, with Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein instructing the Iraqi Embassy in Tehran to investigate the circumstances. The embassy sent a delegation to check on the students and contacted Iranian authorities to follow the investigation and seek legal action against those responsible.

Shafaq News- Erbil

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said it returned 33 Kurdish young men from Libya on Monday, after they were detained and went missing there.

The KRG's Department of Foreign Relations, working with Iraq's embassy in Libya, located the missing persons and brought them home once their release from Libyan custody was arranged, the KRG said in a statement, adding that some had been held in Libyan prisons for more than a month in very poor conditions that endangered their lives.

The men arrived at Erbil International Airport, where medical teams examined them on arrival. Their return brings to 335 the number of irregular migrants brought back to the Kurdistan Region from Libya so far.

Libya is a major transit point for irregular migration to Europe, and many young people from the Kurdistan Region have attempted the route in recent years, with some facing detention, abuse or extortion along the way.

Read more: A one-way ticket: Iraq's youth bet it all on a migration gamble

Shafaq News- Semnan

Iranian judicial authorities have identified two people involved in a clash outside the dormitory of Iraqi students at Semnan University and summoned them for questioning, Semnan Province’s chief justice said, as the investigation continues.

Mohammad-Sadeq Akbari, quoted by Iran's official news agency IRNA, said the prosecutor of the provincial capital had ordered the inquiry after the fight broke out between residents and several Iraqi students near their residence, and that efforts to identify others involved were ongoing. “Anyone found to have taken part in the clash or in disrupting order and security would face legal action once the investigation is complete,” he said.

Akbari disputed some accounts of the incident, saying reporting by what he called hostile media did not match the reality of the case or the initial findings, and that the incident should be judged on official reports and the authorities' further investigations.

Iraq’s acting cultural attaché in Tehran, Haidar Nassar, said the clash began overnight when an intoxicated Iranian man entered the students’ residence and argued with several of them before returning with a group of others, touching off a fight that Iranian security forces moved to contain.

Iraqi Foreign Ministry also called for legal action against those responsible.

Shafaq News- Sanaa

Yemeni government forces said on Monday they had taken control of the Hayd al-Khazzan, al-Fulaihan and al-Nasifah positions in al-Bayda Governorate following heavy clashes with Houthi forces.

The forces said that their warplanes struck Houthi positions in al-Sawadiyah, while Houthi reinforcements heading to the Labanat military camp in al-Jawf came under attack.

Arab media outlets reported that tribes in al-Jawf had begun mobilizing to support the Yemeni armed forces against the Houthis.

The Yemeni troops also said that they had taken control of the Naqil and Jabal al-Koura areas on the al-Kadaha front in Taiz Governorate.

Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration has reported mounting displacement from the fighting, recording 274 displaced households nationwide between Aug. 23 and 29, most of them in Taiz.

Houthi-affiliated media outlets released footage showing what they described as ballistic missile strikes on trucks carrying military equipment from Saudi Arabia at the al-Wadiah military camp.

Houthi media also reported that Saudi artillery fire targeted the Al al-Sheikh area in the border district of Munabbih.

They further reported that Saudi aircraft struck the central prison in al-Hazm district, al-Jawf Governorate, claiming that 35 inmates and a woman visiting her husband remained trapped under the rubble. The reports also said the body of a child had been recovered and two people were injured.

The Houthi spokesperson accused Saudi Arabia of escalating its campaign against Yemen, alleging that Riyadh had carried out airstrikes and other attacks as part of what he described as an ongoing blockade of the country.

He cited the “al-Jawf massacre,” surveillance aircraft, and the supply of various types of weapons to Saudi-aligned forces as the latest signs of escalation. The spokesperson warned that “Saudi Arabia’s continued aggression against Yemen would not go unanswered,” saying Riyadh would have to bear the consequences of its actions against the Yemeni people.

The latest developments follow an escalation in fighting since last Thursday, when Houthi fighters launched a ground assault alongside missile and drone strikes targeting coastal areas along the Red Sea and positions around Taiz.

Shafaq News- Duhok

Mine clearance teams recovered 47 100-mm artillery shells from a village in Duhok province, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the provincial General Directorate of Mine Affairs said on Monday.

The directorate said in a statement that it received a report of unexploded ordnance in Amedi district and dispatched an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team. The team located and removed the shells and transported them for disposal.

Last month, the directorate recovered 43 100-mm artillery shells in Mangesh district.

Duhok authorities have destroyed 608 landmines and other explosive remnants of war across the province in 2026, many of which had been buried underground before heavy rainfall exposed them, according to the Directorate of Mine Affairs.

Read more: Floods unearth Iraq’s hidden mines, reviving a wartime threat

Shafaq News- Muscat

Iraq claimed two silver medals in the high jump at the Oman Athletics Grand Prix 2026, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting held in Muscat on September 5.

Abdulrahman Omar Sabbar took silver in the men's event with a clearance of 2.06 meters, while Maryam Abdulhamid Abdulilah also won silver in the women's competition with a jump of 1.70 meters, the Iraqi Athletics Federation said.

The federation said Iraq competed on an official invitation from the organizers, extended on the strength of the two athletes' performances at a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting last month in Bhubaneswar, India.

Shafaq News- Nineveh

Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court on Monday issued its ruling on a dispute over land in the Qazza Fakhra and Jaliyukhan areas of Nineveh province, drawing sharply different reactions.

Nineveh Provincial Council member Abdullah al-Nujaifi told Shafaq News that, in his view, the court’s decision to dismiss the case confirmed the legality of the council’s earlier decisions. He described the ruling as justice for the wronged, referring to residents who had been barred from building on their land for 20 years.

Al-Nujaifi maintained that the ruling ended a long period of tensions and disputes and demonstrated what he described as the state’s “strength and compassion.” He stressed that the decision was not limited to the two areas but extended to anyone who legally owns property and had been prevented from using it in recent years.

Members of the Shabak community, an Iraqi ethnic and religious minority concentrated in the Nineveh Plains, rejected the ruling.

Journalist and activist Younis al-Agha told Shafaq News that celebrating the decision amounted to promoting “illusory victories,” arguing that the case had effectively returned to “square one” without a substantive resolution.

Al-Agha explained that the ruling did not settle the underlying dispute or establish that the provincial council’s decisions were legally valid. Instead, he noted that the court’s ruling was limited to “dismissal for lack of jurisdiction,” a procedural decision that ends the constitutional challenge while leaving the underlying dispute unresolved and property ownership in the affected areas without additional legal guarantees.

He also warned against what he described as imposing a new reality on land belonging to different communities.

The dispute dates back to an earlier vote by the Nineveh Provincial Council to lift restrictions on construction and grant building permits for residential plots in the villages of Qazza Fakhra and Jaliyukhan in the Nineveh Plains. The land had been subject to restrictions on construction and use for two decades.

The vote drew objections from representatives of the Shabak community. Shabak members of Iraq’s parliament subsequently filed a formal challenge with the Federal Supreme Court, arguing that the council’s decision could pave the way for demographic change and affect land ownership in the area and the rights of its original residents.

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi Oil Minister Bassim Mohammed Khudair has asked the Council of Ministers to approve government positions for oil institute graduates from the classes of 2023, 2024 and 2025 and permanent appointments for contract and daily-wage workers at state oil companies.

According to an official document, Khudair said the positions would fill vacancies and meet the companies’ demand for engineering, technical and operational staff.

The ministry said the companies had sufficient allocations in their planning budgets to cover the proposed appointments, citing the Federal Financial Management Law and Finance Ministry regulations covering profitable state-owned companies that do not rely on the federal treasury.

The proposal covers contract workers under Cabinet Resolution No. 315 of 2019 and daily-wage workers under Resolution No. 192 of 2021.

Last week, graduates of Iraq’s petroleum institutes protested outside the Oil Ministry in Baghdad demanding government jobs, while engineers and science graduates continued demonstrations outside oil companies in Basra for a second consecutive week.

Read more: As protests multiply, Iraqis ask whether the street still moves the state

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry on Monday called for legal action after a group of Iranian citizens attacked Iraqi students at their residence in Iran’s Semnan province.

Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein instructed the Iraqi Embassy in Tehran to look into the circumstances of the incident, the ministry said in a statement.

The embassy sent a delegation to check on the students and contacted Iranian authorities to follow the investigation, calling for legal action against those responsible.

The ministry welcomed measures taken by Iranian authorities to protect the students and transport them to their university to sit their exams. It also called on Iranian authorities to ensure the safety and security of Iraqi citizens and prevent similar incidents from recurring.

Earlier today, Iraq’s acting cultural attaché in Tehran, Haidar Nassar, told Shafaq News that the incident began when an intoxicated Iranian man entered the Iraqi students’ dormitory from the street and argued with several students. After they forced him out, he returned with a group of friends, and a fight broke out before Iranian security forces intervened. Iranian authorities later pledged to move the students to a safer, monitored location.

Shafaq News- Gaza/ West Bank

Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours have killed seven Palestinians and injured 30, the Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip stated on Monday.

In its daily report, the ministry noted that five of those killed were newly reported deaths, while two others died from injuries sustained earlier, adding, “several victims remain under the rubble or in the streets, as ambulance and civil defense crews have been unable to reach them.”

The ministry said the death toll since the October 11 ceasefire has reached 1,352, while 4,511 people have been injured, and the bodies of 826 people killed during the conflict have been recovered. The overall death toll since October 7, 2023, has risen to 73,658, with 174,622 people injured.

In the West Bank, an Israeli settler was seriously wounded in a stabbing attack near the village of Osrein, southeast of Nablus in the northern West Bank. The Israeli military said it killed the suspected attacker.

Israeli Army Radio reported that a Palestinian drove to a farm in an Israeli settlement near Osrein, got out of his vehicle and stabbed a settler before fleeing the area by car.

Local sources said the attack took place in the Jabal Qamas area between Osrein and Beita, where settlers have recently carried out repeated attacks, including taking control of land and establishing new Israeli settlement outposts.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to prepare for an “all-out war” against the Palestinian Authority's leadership, its security forces and affiliated groups, as well as what he described as “offensive infrastructure” in the occupied West Bank.

Katz added that the instructions were intended to bring any confrontation to a complete and rapid resolution if Israel confirms preparations for an attack similar to the October 7 operation targeting Israeli troops and settlements.

Shafaq News- Baghdad

India’s exports to Iraq fell to $317 million in the second quarter of 2026 from $545 million in the first quarter, a decline of about 41.8%, according to International Trade Center data.

Across 88 product categories, cereals topped Indian exports to Iraq during the quarter at $92 million, followed by meat and edible meat products at $63 million and mineral fuels, oils and related products at $53 million.

Pharmaceutical exports reached about $25 million, while coffee, tea, mate and spices totaled $14 million and fruit and nuts amounted to about $9.4 million.

Shafaq News- Baghdad/ Erbil

The US dollar closed Monday's trading lower in Iraq, hovering around 155,500 dinars per 100 dollars.

According to a Shafaq News market survey, the dollar traded in Baghdad's Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya exchanges at 155,550 dinars per 100 dollars, down from the morning session's 155,600 dinars.

In the Iraqi capital, exchange shops sold the dollar at 156,000 dinars and bought it at 155,000 dinars, while in Erbil, selling prices stood at 155,350 dinars and buying prices at 155,300 dinars.

Shafaq News- Kirkuk

Kurdish lawmakers from the multi-ethnic province of Kirkuk on Monday urged Iraq’s oil ministry to intervene over a “lack of balance and fairness” in the management of the state-owned North Oil Company (NOC).

At a news conference in parliament, MP Dilan Ghafoor rejected administrative practices she said excluded or discriminated against particular communities in the distribution of positions and responsibilities at NOC, one of Iraq’s key state-owned oil companies overseeing major fields and production facilities in Kirkuk and other northern provinces.

“If the matter is administrative and concerns the management of the company’s departments in a way that does not conform with the principles of balance, justice and equality in state institutions, then it is unacceptable and cannot be treated as a routine administrative measure,” Ghafoor said.

Kirkuk’s Kurdish representatives, according to Ghafoor, would pursue available legal, constitutional and parliamentary oversight mechanisms to challenge any administrative practices they consider exclusionary.

Other lawmakers called on Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair Al-Abadi to halt the measure at issue and review the company’s administrative approach to ensure fair treatment and representation for all communities and employees.

The concerns follow a series of recent changes to senior positions in Kirkuk that have failed to provide fair representation for the province’s communities. In June, Iraq’s Oil Ministry removed NOC Director-General Amer Khalil Ahmed from his post and nominated Faisal Hummadi Al-Jubouri, also from Kirkuk’s Arab community, as his successor.

About Kirkuk

Kirkuk, home to nearly 1.9 million people according to the 2024 census, has Kurdish, Arab, Turkmen, Chaldean, Assyrian and other communities, and holds 13 parliamentary seats, including one for minorities and three for women. Its political status has long been disputed. Kurdish parties seek implementation of Article 140 of Iraq’s constitution, which provides for normalization, a census and a referendum to determine the status of Kirkuk and other disputed territories. Turkmen political groups regard the city as a historic center of their community, while Arab parties oppose its incorporation into the Kurdistan Region.

Read more: Discover Iraq: Kirkuk, a city of oil, culture, and conflict

The province has also repeatedly seen protests over employment in its oil sector. On Sept. 1, dozens of Kirkuk refinery workers demonstrated outside the Provincial Council headquarters demanding reinstatement after losing their jobs. The protesters said 610 workers affiliated with the North Refineries Company in Baiji were seeking reinstatement or inclusion in Iraq’s 2027 federal budget.

Shafaq News- Baghdad

A planned meeting between Coordination Framework (CF) leaders and armed factions to discuss bringing weapons under state control has been postponed until further notice and may be held after US forces withdraw from Iraq, an informed source told Shafaq News on Monday.

The meeting did not take place because Harakat Al-Nujaba did not attend, the source said. He denied reports that four armed factions had agreed to integrate into state security institutions, saying negotiations and proposed mechanisms for the weapons issue had been postponed until after September 30.

The Iraqi government has set September 30 as a deadline for bringing weapons held by armed factions under state control. The date also marks the scheduled end of the Global Coalition’s military presence in Iraq, with several factions linking the future of their weapons to the withdrawal of foreign forces.

Read more: What happens to Iraq's armed factions after September 30?

Last month, the CF, an alliance of major Shiite political forces, formed a three-member committee comprising former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, State of Law Coalition leader Nouri Al-Maliki and Badr Organization leader Hadi Al-Amiri. The committee has since held talks with armed factions over the weapons issue.

The State Administration Coalition, which includes Iraq’s main Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish political forces, has warned that authorities will address any armed activity outside state control after September 30 under the country’s counterterrorism law.

Read more: Source: Iraqi factions signal flexibility on disarmament talks

Shafaq News- Al-Anbar

The Al-Anbar Criminal Court sentenced a man to death on Monday after convicting him of drug trafficking, Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council said.

Authorities found 3.59 kilograms of amphetamine in the man’s possession, along with two rifles, a handgun, a hunting rifle and a hand grenade, according to the council.

Shafaq News- Riyadh

Saudi Aramco’s oil facilities in Jazan were struck on Monday, a month after an attack temporarily disrupted production at the company’s refinery in the southwestern Saudi city, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

Two people familiar with the matter told the newspaper that the extent of the damage was still being assessed, with one saying that the latest attack was similar in scale to the previous strike.

Jazan, near the Yemeni border, hosts a 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery and associated energy infrastructure.

Saudi Aramco has not commented on the incident, and no group has claimed responsibility.

Shafaq News- Erbil/ Baghdad

Iraq’s General Directorate of Narcotics Affairs arrested two suspects and seized four kilograms of crystal methamphetamine in Erbil in coordination with the province’s anti-narcotics authorities, the directorate said on Monday.

Officers also seized weapons and ammunition from the suspects. One of the detainees was wanted in dozens of cases and is considered a high-risk suspect, the directorate said.

On August 27, the General Directorate of Security (Asayish) in Al-Sulaymaniyah said it arrested three suspected drug traffickers and seized a large quantity of marijuana smuggled into the Kurdistan Region from abroad.

Shafaq News- Babil

Labor unions and federations from 14 Iraqi provinces called for consistent enforcement of existing legislation and greater coordination within the country’s trade union movement during a meeting in Babil on Monday.

Shifaa Al-Hadidi, head of the Nineveh Workers’ Unions, told Shafaq News that discussions focused on the legal standing of labor federations and the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry’s oversight of union activity. He cited elections for the General Federation of Iraqi Trade Unions, conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Judicial Council and more than 100 judges, urging the ministry to deal impartially with competing organizations.

Read more: Fragmentation or fresh start? Iraq's new labor union under scrutiny

Participants intend to issue a statement demanding implementation of Trade Union Organization Law No. 52 of 1987, according to Hussein Jassim Al-Quraishi, a member of the General Federation’s executive bureau, who argued that the proliferation of rival federations has fragmented the movement and weakened its ability to protect workers.

Qasim Mohammed Al-Alayawi, head of the Al-Anbar Workers’ Union, called for labor organizations to coordinate their positions on workers’ rights, while Huda Al-Alousi, head of Iraq’s General Textile Workers’ Union, warned against divisions that could undermine their representation.

Read more: International Labor Day in Iraq: A holiday in search of its workers

Shafaq News- Nineveh

Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court on Monday rejected legal challenges to a Nineveh Provincial Council decision lifting construction restrictions in Qaza Fakhra and Jliyokhan, two areas in the Nineveh Plains east of Mosul, political adviser to the council Humam Al-Salim told Shafaq News.

Al-Salim said the ruling upheld the council's measure, which he described as ending years of restrictions that had affected thousands of families and property owners.

The court had previously postponed the case until Sept. 7 at the request of lawmakers Waad El-Kadu and Duraid Jameel, who appeared as plaintiffs and sought additional time to respond to the defense presented on behalf of the Provincial Council chairman and Nineveh governor.

The dispute followed a legal challenge brought by Qusay Abbas, a lawmaker representing the Shabak community, an ethnic and religious minority concentrated in the Nineveh Plains. The suit accused the council of seeking to engineer demographic change around Mosul, including in Qaza Fakhra and Jliyokhan, after it voted in June to authorize the Mosul municipality to subdivide and distribute residential plots and issue building permits in expansion zones.

Read more: Nineveh Council lifts building restrictions on Mosul outskirts

Shafaq News- Erbil

Erbil’s Nanakali Hospital for Blood Diseases and Cancer records between 1,500 and 1,800 new cancer cases annually and receives up to 400 patients a day, hospital director Hardi Jawad Sabir said on Monday.

At a press conference, Sabir said the daily figure largely reflects registered patients returning for weekly or monthly care rather than new diagnoses, adding that the hospital had received more than 800 packages of rare cancer medications through cooperation between the Barzani Charity Foundation and Norway’s MAIN organization.

Nanakali specializes in solid tumors, blood disorders, and pediatric cancers, serving people from across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) as well as central and southern provinces.

Sabir put the hospital’s recovery rate at approximately 75%, comparing it with what he said were international rates of around 30% in developing countries and up to 90% in developed countries. He also maintained that cancer incidence in the KRI remains relatively low by global standards.

In February, KRI Health Minister Saman Barzanji said that 10,481 new cancer cases were registered across the KRI in 2025, with around 40% of those receiving care coming from other Iraqi provinces.

Read more: Home or Hope? The Impossible Choice for Iraqi Cancer Patients

Shafaq News- Basrah

Iraq’s Basrah Medium crude climbed above $85 a barrel in early September, extending a rebound from lower levels seen in July and parts of August, according to official Oil data.

The grade averaged $85.10 a barrel in June before falling to $78.37 in July, a decline of $6.73, or about 7.9%.

Prices remained volatile through August, falling below $60 a barrel early in the month before rebounding sharply later.

On September 4, Basrah Medium reached $85.97 a barrel, marking a strong recovery from its August lows.

Shafaq News- Nineveh

Iraqi Sunni leader Osama al-Nujaifi denied on Monday that he is forming or leading a preparatory committee to represent the country's Sunnis.

Reports circulating in recent days alleged that efforts were underway to establish a new Sunni political bloc modeled on the Shiite Coordination Framework, with al-Nujaifi named as a possible leader alongside other Sunni figures.

Al-Nujaifi, secretary-general of the Muttahidoon party, said through his media office that the claims circulating in some media and on social platforms had no basis in fact.

Shafaq News- Tehran

Iraqi diplomats are following the case of several Iraqi students at Iran's Semnan University after a nighttime brawl at their dormitory, while Iraq’s cultural attaché said steps were underway to suspend recognition of the university over its treatment of the students.

Iraq's acting cultural attaché in Tehran, Haidar Nassar, told Shafaq News on Monday that the trouble began overnight when an intoxicated Iranian man entered the students' dormitory from the street and argued with a group of them before they forced him out. The man returned with a group of friends, and the confrontation escalated into a fight around the dormitory before Iranian security forces stepped in. “The situation was fully under control by 4:00 a.m., with damage limited to a broken main door.”

Three Iraqi students were directly involved in the scuffle, but no injuries, losses, or stolen property have been reported, Nassar said, adding that the Iranian side had pledged to keep the situation under control and to move the students to “a safer, monitored location for their protection.”

Nassar said the fight was an isolated incident unrelated to the students' earlier administrative disputes with the university, including delays in processing their paperwork. Relations had been running smoothly when he visited Semnan months ago and met the university president, but a change in the university's leadership and a subsequent breakdown in communication produced a series of disputes.

The Iraqi side is now moving to penalize the university over what Nassar described as failures in its duties toward Iraqi students, with the measures at an advanced stage and including a push to suspend Iraqi recognition of the institution, a step he said would serve as a deterrent to Semnan and other universities.