After oil shocks rippled through the market last week, the Kurdish government in Iraq said it was welcoming calls for dialogue from a leading Iraqi cleric. A risk premium last week supported the rally in crude oil prices after Turkey said it could cut export routes from the Kurdish north to the Ceyhan port on the Mediterranean Sea following a Kurdish referendum for independence from Iraq. Despite widespread criticism, the Kurdish government said it had the right to self-determination following years of grievances with the federal government in Baghdad. During Friday prayers, a representative for Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani , Iraq’s leading Shiite cleric, called for a political solution. “We believe […]