Mashhadani, Barzani discuss salary crisis in Erbil amid ongoing Baghdad-KRG dispute

ERBIL — Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani met Sunday with Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani in Erbil to discuss ongoing disputes between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region, with a focus on the unresolved public sector salary crisis.

Al-Mashhadani said parliament remains “fully committed” to resolving the matter, stressing that “efforts will continue to find practical solutions.” He emphasized that the issue should be addressed “solely from a national and humanitarian perspective,” and not be politicized.

Barzani expressed confidence in parliament’s role—and in al-Mashhadani personally—to help resolve the crisis. He said the region is awaiting “concrete actions from both parliament and government” to bring the matter to a swift resolution.

Earlier in the day, al-Mashhadani also met with Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, who echoed calls for resolving the dispute and ensuring timely payment of public salaries.

Tensions between Erbil and Baghdad escalated in May, when Iraq’s federal Finance Ministry suspended payments to the Kurdistan Region, accusing the KRG of exceeding its 2025 budget share by more than 19 trillion dinars and failing to submit verifiable data on oil and non-oil revenues. The KRG has denied the allegations, saying it is in full compliance with constitutional obligations.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the KRG reiterated its call for the resumption of salary transfers and pointed to recent progress in negotiations. As of July 6, Kurdistan Region public employees have not received their May salaries.

Statement from Al-Mashhadani’s office:

Speaker of the Parliament Dr. Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani met Sunday with President Masoud Barzani at the Salah Al-Din resort in Erbil, in the presence of the Chairman of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, MP Ziyad Al-Janabi.

The meeting included an in-depth discussion of several disputed issues, foremost among them the salaries and financial entitlements of the Kurdistan Region’s public employees.

Speaker Al-Mashhadani affirmed the parliament’s full commitment to resolving the salary crisis for Kurdistan Region employees, noting that parliamentary efforts will continue to find practical solutions to the issue, similar to past successful efforts in resolving the water crisis.

Al-Mashhadani stressed that the parliament will play an active and direct role once sessions resume, and will take the necessary legal measures in coordination with executive authorities to ensure the timely disbursement of financial entitlements to their rightful recipients in the region. He emphasized the need to keep the salary issue separate from political disputes and to address it solely from a national and humanitarian perspective.

For his part, President Masoud Barzani expressed confidence in the role of the Parliament and Speaker Al-Mashhadani personally in finding a final resolution to the salary crisis. He affirmed the region’s expectation of concrete actions from both parliament and government to address the issue as quickly as possible.

The two sides agreed on the importance of serious proposals from both the federal and Kurdistan regional governments and on working jointly to study and implement them to resolve the crisis fundamentally and permanently.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Shakhwan Abdullah and Kurdistan Region Minister of Interior Rebar Ahmed Khalid.