Basra has long been a key cog in Iraq’s economy but, after months of Iran choking off Gulf oil exports with its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the city is suffering.

Fuel trucks stand idle and workers face pay cuts and lay-offs.

“I haven’t done anything in a month,” Fawzi told AFP. “What are we supposed to maintain?” Many Basra residents have lost their jobs or taken heavy pay cuts as private contractors, as oil fields and the Umm Qasr cargo port scale back operations.

Crude oil exports account for almost 90 per cent of Iraq’s foreign revenue, and are primarily shipped through Hormuz via the cluster of facilities around Basra, the country’s only gateway to the Gulf.

The war has cruelly exposed Iraq’s dependence on oil, and its main export route, dealing a setback to its economic recovery after decades of conflict.

Fawzi said his company first slashed salaries by 20pc, then by half, before laying off dozens of employees. He now reports for duty just 15 days a month.

Basra’s parking areas overflow with oil trucks. Some linger empty, while others wait for weeks with full tanks to load their crude onto ships.

Cheap oil

Before the war started at the end of February, Iraq produced around four million barrels of crude per day and exported an average of 3.4 million, mostly via Hormuz.

But when Iran blockaded Hormuz, onshore storage quickly filled up, forcing Iraq to slash production.

Experts have long warned Iraq to introduce different income streams to cushion swings in the energy market.

But with a fledgling private sector, poor banking system and dilapidated infrastructure, diversification is difficult.

Iraq has sought to calm fears by using alternative routes, including trucks through Syria and a pipeline to Turkey, but they can handle only a fraction of the sea-bound trade.

After a sharp drop, Iraqi oil exports through Hormuz came climbing back in the first week of September, data from the maritime tracking firm Kpler showed.

However, Iraq sold the oil at “discounted prices”, a government official said.

According to authorities, Iraq exported an average of 2.6m bpd so far in September.

Iran had announced a special exemption for Iraqi tankers in late August, while the US says it has recently managed to boost Gulf exports through a secure Hormuz corridor hugging the Omani coast.

Nonetheless, the economic fallout is evident. Prices have surged and the Iraqi dinar has fluctuated.

Foreign currency reserves fell by $20 billion, according to the government official.

Iraq relies heavily on foreign currency from oil sales to pay civil servants, finance imports and stabilise the dinar.

The collapse in these revenues forced authorities to borrow internally.

While the government hopes it can continue borrowing for months, “it’s probably banking on a resolution to the conflict before the end of this year”, economic expert Ali al-Mawlawi said.

The recent partial recovery in oil exports bought the government “a little more time”, and allowed it to pay salaries with minor delays.

“The imperative is to ensure that it can continue” to do so, Mawlawi warned.

Empty wharves

Iraq imports most of its goods, from food and medicine to electronics and natural gas.

But Umm Qasr, the major southern port, now stands nearly deserted.

Only a few vessels are docked in its northern section, including an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, and a vessel that port employees said had passed through Hormuz from China.

Three newly built wharves are vacant, their cranes and walkways empty.

The downturn has hit hard. State port workers lost their monthly incentives, which are linked to the port’s profits and had supplemented their pay.

The head of the port’s northern sector, Captain Salem Hussein, said “if ships don’t come… companies cannot maintain the same workforce”.

“Real work resumes only when Hormuz reopens,” he added.

The disruption has rippled through the local economy.

Basra electronics vendor Zaid Hadi, 36, said sales had halved, blaming higher import costs, salary cuts, job losses and the exodus of foreign oil-sector workers.

Customers “now hesitate to spend… worried about possible salary delays” and fearing harder times ahead, he said.

Amir, 35, worked for a private contractor at an oil field that he said took drastic action, including slashing salaries by 40 percent.

“In Basra, we depend on the port and the oil, and now both have come to a halt,” Amir said.

Since 2019, 4A has generated its own power, including through solar panels, making it an exception in Bangladesh’s garment industry, the world’s second-biggest exporter after China. The Middle East crisis has worsened energy shortages in the country where much of the electricity is generated using natural gas, furnace oil and diesel.

A recent survey of 134 knitwear factories found that 55 per cent had seen buyers cancel or cut orders because of gas and power shortages since late August, and 78pc had partially halted production. The factories also reported shipment delays and discounted orders to buyers.

But that’s not yet the case at 4A, whose factory on Dhaka’s outskirts employs nearly 7,500 workers and meets around 40pc of its electricity needs through solar, the rest mainly through its own gas and diesel generation.

“We never stayed at a single-source energy dependency. We had backups for everything,” said company co-owner Abdullah Hil Nakib.

“We need some sort of certainty. But the cost of doing business has increased. First there was a shortage of oil, then a shortage of gas.”

Costlier diesel has pushed 4A’s production costs up by 2 to 3pc, adding up to 5 million taka (Rs11.3m) to its monthly fuel bill, he said.

The pressure on factories intensified on Monday after Bangladesh raised fuel prices by up to 17.4pc, a move the government said was necessary because of soaring global prices and higher shipping costs due to the Middle East conflict triggered by US-Israeli attacks on Iran in February.

To reduce future disruptions, 4A plans to install an industrial-scale battery system that would allow operations to continue for several hours if power sources fail.

“We’ve been able to absorb the extra costs, but not every factory can afford to do that,” said Nakib, whose factory roofs are nearly covered in solar panels.

Steep fuel price hike to pile more pressure

Soaring gas import costs are slowing the country’s industrial growth, causing electricity outages and hurting spending on development projects due to higher gas subsidies, Bangladesh’s power minister said last week.

Bangladesh’s ready-made garment sector accounts for more than 80pc of export earnings, employs about 4m workers and contributes around 10pc to gross domestic product.

Some manufacturers have incurred additional costs by shipping goods by air or offering discounts to meet delivery deadlines after energy-related disruptions.

“Our margins are already very thin, and the fuel price hike will squeeze them further,” said garment exporter Shahidullah Azim.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult for us to absorb higher production and transportation costs while remaining competitive.”

Azim said a Canadian buyer that had been expected to order 25,000 pieces ultimately placed an order for only 8,000, which he attributed to declining buyer confidence amid Bangladesh’s economic and energy challenges.

Companies may be able to pay higher fuel costs, but gas shortages and power cuts are more worrying for some, given that those problems are not as intense in competitors like Vietnam and India, said Mohiuddin Rubel, additional managing director of Denim Expert Ltd, which supplies to brands including H&M.

“Whether we hold our position against other sourcing countries or lose ground to them depends on how well we manage it,” he said.

Header image: Employees work in the sewing section at the Yarn Dyeing Limited factory, amid the energy crisis, in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, on September 17, 2026. — Reuters

Umm-e-Hani conceded only 10 runs in her four overs, including a wicket-maiden, as Pakistan overcame Bangladesh’s early resistance to restrict them to 114 for seven after posting 145 for eight.

The medal is Pakistan’s third in the women’s cricket competition at the Asian Games, following gold-medal triumphs in 2010 and 2014.

It also marked a measure of redemption for Pakistan, who had lost the bronze-medal match to Bangladesh at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Pakistan had been in danger of posting a modest total after collapsing from 46 without loss to 67 for five, but Fatima changed the course of the innings with an aggressive 30-ball 45.

The captain, who struck three fours and three sixes, added 67 from 43 balls with Aliya Riaz to take Pakistan towards a competitive total. Aliya contributed 25 from 22 balls, including two sixes and a four.

Fatima’s innings was particularly significant in the context of her prolific year. She entered the match as Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in women’s Twenty20 internationals in 2026 and took her tally to 540 with Tuesday’s knock. She also remains Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is this year.

Earlier, Pakistan made a steady start after Fatima won the toss and elected to bat, with Gull Feroza and Shawaal Zulfiqar putting on 46 in 6.4 overs.

Gull struck six fours in her 23-ball 31 before Nahida Akter ended the opening stand, while Shawaal made 17 from 27 balls.

Bangladesh then seized control, taking five wickets for 21 runs to leave Pakistan struggling at 67 for five. Fatima and Aliya, however, rebuilt the innings before accelerating after Pakistan reached 90 for five in 15 overs.

Fatima struck Rabeya Khan for six before both batters cleared the ropes against Sanjida Akter in the 17th over. Pakistan added 55 runs in the final five overs, although Bangladesh hit back by taking two wickets and conceding only seven in the final over.

Nahida, Shorna Akter and Ritu Moni claimed two wickets apiece for Bangladesh.

Pakistan’s defence began emphatically as Umm-e-Hani and Tasmia Rubab reduced Bangladesh to 20 for three inside five overs.

Umm-e-Hani struck in her first over, removing Juairiya Ferdous, before Tasmia dismissed Dilara Akter for 12. Umm-e-Hani then removed Sobhana Mostary early in the fifth over.

All three catches in the opening exchanges were taken by Saira Jabeen, including a spectacular effort at the cover boundary to dismiss Dilara.

Bangladesh’s hopes rested on captain Nigar Sultana and Sharmin Akhter, who added 47 for the fourth wicket. Nigar made 25 off 30 balls with three fours, while Sharmin remained unbeaten on 46 from 45 balls, hitting four fours.

But with Bangladesh requiring more than 10 runs an over at the halfway stage, the task became increasingly difficult. Ayesha Zafar trapped Nigar leg-before in the 14th over, before Umm-e-Hani and Fatima struck in successive overs to remove Shorna Akter and Ritu Moni.

Umm-e-Hani’s dismissal of Shorna for six gave her career-best T20I figures of three for 10, improving on her previous best of two for 28 against Sri Lanka in Dambulla earlier this year.

Nashra Sandhu removed Rabeya Khan for the seventh wicket with Bangladesh on 93, leaving the target beyond their reach.

Fatima also chipped in with the wicket of Ritu Moni, taking her tally to 31 wickets in T20Is in 2026.

Pakistan’s campaign had begun with a three-wicket victory over Thailand in the quarter-final before Sri Lanka beat them by eight wickets in the semi-final.

The bronze-medal victory ensured they returned home from the Asian Games with a podium finish.

India and Sri Lanka will contest for the gold medal.

CDF Munir made the statement while visiting the Peshawar Corps Headquarters, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. He was received by the Peshawar Corps commander.

During the visit, CDF Munir was briefed on the “security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ongoing counter-terrorism operations, border management measures and operational preparedness of formations deployed in the province”.

The CDF lauded the “high morale, readiness and professionalism” of the security personnel. He acknowledged their “steadfast commitment to safeguarding the country and its people”.

According to ISPR, CDF Munir directed troops to stay vigilant and practice the “highest standards” of operational preparedness.

“The armed forces, with the unwavering support of the nation, remain resolute in their determination to defeat terrorism and ensure lasting peace and stability across the country,” ISPR quoted him as saying.

During the visit, CDF Munir also laid a floral wreath at Yadgar-e-Shuhada and offered Fateha.

He paid tribute to martyrs, stressing that their “supreme sacrifices would never be forgotten”.

More to follow.