New border crossing to create direct Iraq-Turkey link

Ankara and Baghdad have announced plans to open a second border crossing, tightening links between the two countries.

Iraq

Pentagon budget leaves uncertain future for Middle East

President Donald Trump authorized on Monday the Pentagon’s 2019 budget, which will underwrite big upgrades for US weapons systems and troop numbers but leaves an uncertain future for the Pentagon’s operations in the Middle East.

Iraq

Iraq, Jordan sign security agreement

Iraq and Jordan have signed a security agreement to facilitate trade and travel between the two countries.

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

Will Iraq comply with US-imposed Iran sanctions?

Iraq is willing to abide by US sanctions against Iran, according to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, yet pro-Iranian parties and militias slammed Abadi, calling for support for Iran against these sanctions.

Iraq

Iranian media stunned by Iraqi PM's compliance with US sanctions

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's decision to cooperate with US sanctions has surprised a number of analysts and media in Iran.

Iraq

Genocide still haunts Iraq's Yazidis

Four years after the genocide against them, Yazidis mark its anniversary without a noticeable improvement in their situation.

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

Iraq's Basra plans dam on vital river

After angry demonstrations against the government in Basra about the lack of potable water, the southern Iraqi province is preparing to tackle the problem by building a dam on the Shatt al-Arab River.

Iraq

Will Riyadh-Tehran rivalry kill Iraqi Kurdistan's investment drive?

A visit to Erbil by a Saudi trade delegation in late July has the potential to bear fruit in advancing economic cooperation and investment in the region, helping ease its current financial crisis, but the Saudis' move has raised eyebrows in Tehran.

Saudi Arabia

As protests rock southern Iraq, Basra calls for autonomy

Amid the ongoing protests in Iraq's southern province of Basra, an old demand for autonomy has re-emerged.

Iraq

Dismissal of electricity minister fails to quell protests in Iraq

After a month of protests in Iraq over the lack of electricity and other public services, the Iraqi prime minister dismissed the minister of electricity, without any clear vision for a solution to the crisis.

Saudi Arabia