The story: Iraqi parliamentary blocs are still unable to break a months-long deadlock over the 2021 federal budget. Their disagreements center on two key points—the budget share for the Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRI) and the exchange rate.

With parliamentary elections scheduled for October, fewer blocs are willing to compromise at the risk of empowering rivals. Possible security risks via opposition to the upcoming US-Iraq strategic dialogue thus mean there is an imperative to ratify the budget soon.

The coverage: On March 29, Al-Nahj Al-Watani MP Mazin Al-Faili outlined to Al-Sumaria TV three reasons for the continued deadlock....