This photograph shows the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Nora Bandar Abbas docked at the port of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq on September 17, 2026. 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. 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 percent 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. (Photo by HUSSEIN FALEH / AFP via Getty Images)