\n 2026-06-25T07:35:22+00:00<\/p>\n
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Shafaq News- Baghdad<\/p>\n
Iraq signed an agreement with
\nQatar’s GBI to market cross-border internet transit capacity through the Civilizations
\nRoad Project and received its first payment in foreign currency,
\nCommunications Minister Mustafa Sanad announced on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Sanad said the agreement adopts the Indefeasible
\nRight of Use (IRU) model, a long-term telecommunications infrastructure
\nframework, to lease strands of Iraq’s fiber-optic network, marking the first
\ntime the country has used this system.<\/p>\n
The project relies on a land
\ncorridor stretching from al-Faw in southern Iraq to Rabia near the Turkish
\nborder, linking data traffic from Asia and the Gulf to Europe through Turkiye.
\nAccording to the minister, the route reduces latency compared with conventional
\nsubmarine cables, strengthens Iraq’s position as an international digital
\ntransit hub, and has already attracted requests from several Gulf countries
\nover the past week to use the corridor. <\/p>\n
The Communications Ministry launched
\nthe Civilizations Road Project into commercial operation in 2024 as Iraq’s
\nfirst internet transit network, a roughly 2,000-kilometer fiber-optic corridor
\nlinking the country with neighboring states through five border crossings:
\nal-Faw, Safwan, al-Mundhiriya, Arar, and Rabia.<\/p>\n
In March 2025, the ministry signed
\nan agreement with Qatar’s Ooredoo to establish Iraq’s fourth submarine cable,
\nand in May, Zain Omantel International announced a new telecommunications
\ncorridor linking the Gulf to Europe through Iraq.<\/p>\n