Iraq, which this week gained notional self-rule as the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority disbanded and an interim government took their seats, is the latest country to request its domain, .iq, be assigned to it.
The Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers, which runs the IANA function, confirmed this week that the CPA recently expressed an interest in having .iq assigned, and that it had responded with information about redelegation processes.
As usual, ICANN would not discuss who applied to run the domain, but there are thought to be multiple applicants. ICANN has a history of giving extra weight to the wishes of governments, so a domain registry approved by Iraq’s new government seems likely.
Currently, .iq doesn’t work. The listed technical contact, Bayan Elashi of Texas-based firm InfoCom, is reportedly currently awaiting trial in the US charged with funding Hamas, which is identified as a terrorist group.
Iraq’s new National Communications and Media Commission is reportedly seeking to have .iq redelegated to it, and has submitted a proposal to IANA closely modeled on the one submitted by Afghanistan after the US-led invasion two years ago.
It took about six months for the .af redelegation. As a part of that process, the new .af registry operator signed a memorandum of understanding with ICANN, acknowledging ICANN as manager of the DNS.
Also this week, ICANN’s board is scheduled to discuss the preliminary redelegation of Libya’s .ly. Probably coincidentally, this week the US reopened diplomatic channels with that nation, after 24 years of silence.
Libya’s domain became inactive in April following a dispute between ICANN and its manager, LyDomains. It was later reactivated. The Libyan government has been trying to have .ly redelegated to it for over two years.
