Iran

The Iraqi Ministry of Planning on Monday announced the final results of the country's first census in nearly 40 years, showing that Iraq's population has reached 46.1 million.

According to the results, the population of the Kurdistan region is at 6.5 million, about 14% of the Iraqi population.

Fazil Nabi, the former deputy minister of Iraq's Finance Ministry, suggested to VOA that the budget share for the Kurdistan region should be increased, "from the current 12.67%, which was set by the Iraqi parliament, to 14%."

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The United States imposed sanctions on more than 30 people and vessels for their role in selling and transporting Iranian petroleum-related products as part of Tehran's "shadow fleet," the Treasury Department said.

The sanctions target oil brokers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Hong Kong, tanker operators and mangers in India and China, the head of Iran's National Iranian Oil Company, and the Iranian Oil Terminals Company, Treasury said.

It said the vessels sanctioned ship tens of millions of barrels of crude oil valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, the department said in a statement.

"Iran continues to rely on a shadowy network of vessels, shippers, and brokers to facilitate its oil sales and fund its destabilizing activities," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

The sanctions build on those imposed by the Biden administration.

Such sanctions target key sectors of Iran's economy with the aim of denying the government funds for its nuclear and missile programs. The move generally prohibits any U.S. individuals or entities from doing any business with the targets and freezes any U.S.-held assets.