Based on an analysis of 423 Facebook posts trending on January 13, 2025, Miqrab AI identified several key narratives circulating in Iraq. The most prominent theme was the nationwide religious commemoration of the birth of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, which drove the highest engagement. Following this, significant government actions, particularly the Council of Ministers’ decisions to legalize squatter settlements and reverse pension deductions, were widely discussed. Politically, ongoing tensions between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government over oil revenues remained a major topic of debate. Social media users also engaged heavily with high-impact posts from political figures and news about controversial new legislation, while security updates on counter-terrorism operations and cultural events rounded out the day’s top conversations.<\/p>\n
Facebook pages across Iraq widely celebrated the birth of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib on the 13th of Rajab. The page Alkhowa Alnadifa<\/a> (Post Impact: 100%)<\/strong> shared a post commemorating the event, highlighting the significance of his birth inside the Holy Kaaba in Mecca with the quote “I was born on the fitra (natural disposition) and was foremost in faith and migration.”<\/em> News page Iraq 24<\/a> (Post Impact: 19%)<\/strong> announced that the Najaf Governorate had declared the following day an official holiday for the occasion. The Baghdad<\/a> (Post Impact: 7%)<\/strong> page also reported on the sounds of believers celebrating at his holy shrine.<\/p>\n Decisions from the Council of Ministers, shared by Prime Minister Engineer Mohamed Shia Alsudani<\/a> (Post Impact: 13%)<\/strong>, generated significant discussion. A key decision was the approval to sell officially zoned residential lands owned by municipalities to individuals who had built homes on them as squatters before December 10, 2024. This was also reported by Iraq 24<\/a> (Post Impact: 17%)<\/strong> and Breaking News<\/a> (Post Impact: 11%)<\/strong>. In a separate decision, the Prime Minister’s page announced that retirees would be retroactively exempted from the 1% salary deduction for supporting Gaza and Lebanon, and all deducted amounts would be returned to them.<\/p>\n The ongoing dispute over oil revenues between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was a major political topic. MP Mohammed Nuri Aziz<\/a> (Post Impact: 21%)<\/strong>, a member of the parliamentary finance committee, stated that the Kurdistan region is not complying with agreements and is smuggling approximately 200,000 of its 400,000 barrels of daily oil production through illegitimate channels. These concerns were echoed by Breaking News<\/a> (Post Impact: 7%)<\/strong>, which quoted politician Mu’in al-Kadhimi urging the KRG to deliver its agreed-upon 400,000 barrels per day to Baghdad. Journalist Salem Mashkour<\/a> (Post Impact: 6%)<\/strong> criticized what he called a recurring yearly scenario where the KRG visits Baghdad, makes an agreement, receives funds, and then fails to deliver on its commitments.<\/p>\n A video post by Member of Parliament Mustafa Sanad<\/a> (Post Impact: 96%)<\/strong> received exceptionally high engagement. He described the video as the “strongest clip of 2025,”<\/em> as it showed scenes of road paving and asphalting projects. The post’s text also cryptically referenced a “conflict of thrones and bellies,”<\/em> alluding to political power struggles alongside the discussion of public services. The combination of tangible infrastructure work and political commentary resonated strongly with his audience.<\/p>\n The page Alkhowa Alnadifa<\/a> (Post Impact: 91%)<\/strong> reported on a new law passed by the Iraqi Parliament that grants lifetime diplomatic passports to officials and their families across the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. The post, which received significant engagement, brought public attention to the legislation and the extensive privileges it provides to the political class and their relatives, sparking debate among users.<\/p>\n The Private Office of His Eminence Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr<\/a> (Post Impact: 69%)<\/strong> shared a post indicating that the Sadrist leader had published a new statement on his personal account on the social media platform “X.” While the Facebook post itself did not contain the text of the statement, its announcement generated significant attention and circulation among his followers, who actively follow his directives and commentary issued through the platform.<\/p>\n A post from the Baghdad<\/a> (Post Impact: 61%)<\/strong> page featuring a recent photograph of celebrated veteran actresses Iqbal Naeem, Saadia Al-Zaidi, and Fatima Al-Rubaie garnered widespread attention. The page noted that the image marked a rare appearance for the actresses after a long absence, prompting a wave of nostalgic and appreciative comments from users who celebrated their contributions to Iraqi arts and culture.<\/p>\n An astronomical event featuring the full “Wolf Moon” alongside the planet Mars captured the interest of Iraqi social media users. The page Telescope Iraq<\/a> (Post Impact: 39%)<\/strong> encouraged its followers to go outside and view the spectacle, explaining the name’s origin from ancient American tribes and noting Mars was at its closest distance to Earth. The same page later shared a high-definition image of the conjunction. The Baghdad<\/a> (Post Impact: 3%)<\/strong> page also posted a photo of the bright moon illuminating the capital’s sky.<\/p>\n Several pages reported on recent security operations against ISIS remnants. The official page of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS)<\/a> (Post Impact: 12%)<\/strong> issued a statement about a successful operation to clear a militant hideout containing explosives in Anbar province and a separate arrest of an ISIS member in Kirkuk. Meanwhile, Maher Mohi::Voice of the Homeland’s Protectors<\/a> (Post Impact: 13%)<\/strong> shared a video of ICTS soldiers returning to the home of their fallen comrade, Hadi Hamed, after successfully avenging his death by killing dozens of terrorists in an operation named after him. Additionally, Saraya al-Salam<\/a> (Post Impact: 6%)<\/strong> announced the arrest of two wanted individuals in Samarra.<\/p>\n Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani’s visit to Baghdad was a key political topic, with multiple leaders posting about their meetings with him. The official pages of former Prime Minister Nouri AlMaliki<\/a> (Post Impact: 7%)<\/strong> and Dr. Media Office of Dr. Haider Al-Abadi<\/a> (Post Impact: 6%)<\/strong> both published statements detailing their discussions. The meetings focused on resolving outstanding issues between the federal government and the KRG within the framework of the constitution and the national budget, as well as addressing broader security challenges and strengthening cooperation between all national powers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Based on an analysis of 423 Facebook posts trending on January 13, 2025, Miqrab AI identified several key narratives circulating in Iraq. The most prominent theme was the nationwide religious commemoration of the birth of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, which drove the highest engagement. Following this, significant government actions, particularly the Council of Ministers’ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,73,78],"tags":[82,52,81,84],"class_list":["post-9597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facebook","category-iraq","category-daily","tag-daily-reports","tag-iraq-daily-social-media-trends","tag-iraq-public-opinion","tag-trending-facebook"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9599,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9597\/revisions\/9599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. Government to Sell Land to Squatters and Reverse Pension Cuts<\/h2>\n
3. Renewed Tensions Between Baghdad and Erbil Over Oil Revenues<\/h2>\n
4. MP Mustafa Sanad’s Viral Video on Services and Politics<\/h2>\n
5. Parliament Approves Lifetime Diplomatic Passports for Officials<\/h2>\n
6. Muqtada al-Sadr’s Statement on “X” Platform<\/h2>\n
7. Recent Photo of Veteran Iraqi Actresses Goes Viral<\/h2>\n
8. “Wolf Moon” in Conjunction With Mars Sighted Over Iraq<\/h2>\n
9. Security Forces Announce Counter-Terrorism Operations<\/h2>\n
10. KRG President Nechirvan Barzani Meets with Leaders in Baghdad<\/h2>\n