Iraq’s Zaidi doubles down on militia disarmament, boosting oil exports Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi made the comments amid Hormuz-related export struggles and a nearing deadline for armed groups to disarm. Iraq
Iran’s Ghalibaf makes high-level visit to Iraq ahead of disarmament deadline The Iraqi parliament speaker is calling on his Iranian counterpart to help Iraq export oil through Hormuz amid the regional conflict. Iran
Iraq intel and security officials visit Saudi Arabia after drone attacks Iraqi authorities are cracking down on drone attacks after US and Saudi airstrikes targeted Iran-backed militias in the country. Iraq
Analysis What Qaani's Baghdad visit reveals about Iran's post-war dilemma The Quds Force commander's Baghdad visit is occurring as Iran faced difficult choices in Iraq where the government is moving to bring powerful armed groups under state control after the recent war. By A correspondent in Tehran In Tehran, reporting on politics
Analysis How Turkey is deepening energy and economic ties with Iraq as Iran weakens By Barin Kayaoglu In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security
Turkey extends flight ban to Sulaimaniyah Turkey seems to be expressing its opposition to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's candidate for the Iraqi presidency by extending its ban on flights to Sulaimaniyah, but the move may represent the extent of Ankara's influence over political machinations in Baghdad. Iraq
Iran's influence continues to shape new Iraqi government After Iran succeeded in pushing through its preferred candidate for Iraq's parliament speaker, Tehran continued its pressure to secure the position of second deputy speaker, bringing the "score" to 2-0 against the US. Iraq
Iran 1, US 0: Iraq chooses a parliament speaker After a long delay, the Iraqi parliament has finally elected its speaker and in doing so confirmed the rising influence of Iran. Iraq
Iraq's Abadi under fire from pro-Iran political factions Pro-Iranian factions within Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units are taking advantage of the bloody events in Basra to prevent the prime minister from winning a second term, accusing him of being under US influence. Iraq
Mortars hit Iraq's Green Zone as violent protests continue As Iraq's political parties have failed to form a new government, unrest continues in Basra, where hundreds of people are being hospitalized each day due to a lack of basic services, especially clean water. Iraq
Turkey pins hopes on cleric Sadr to form Iraqi government As Turkey waits to see which Iraqi political coalition comes up with the parliamentary majority necessary to install a new government, Ankara is rooting for the bloc of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which it sees as most likely to minimize US and Iranian influence in the country. Iraq
Shiite split heats up as Iraqi lawmakers fail to elect speaker Two Iraqi Shiite coalitions — one favored by the United States and the other by Iran — are competing hard to gain a majority in the parliament to form the next government. Iraq
Iran-Iraq tensions rise as Tehran demands war compensation Tensions between Baghdad and Tehran grow after Iraq's prime minister said his country would abide by US sanctions against Iran, while the latter demands compensation for damages in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War. Iraq
As Iraq wraps up election recount, is a new government in sight? In the midst of intensive negotiations by the winning parties in the elections to form a new government, the Independent High Electoral Commission has completed the process of manual counting, without expecting a significant change in the results. Iraq
Abadi, Maliki seek alliance with Iraq's Kurds Nearly two months since Iraq's parliamentary election, the winning parties are still discussing an alliance to form the new government. Iraq
Iraqi Shiites, Kurds siphon voter support from Sunnis Sunni parties lost a significant number of parliament seats in Iraq's May elections, continuing a yearslong decline. Iraq
Iraqi parties intensify calls to challenge election results Some Iraqi political parties are challenging the results of recent parliamentary elections, citing fraud and faulty electronic voting technology, but those who support the election results say a vote recount could lead to a civil war. Iraq
