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Iraq

October 27, 2026

Baghdad 10:22 pm

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Iran says deal reached with Iraq to expel Kurdish separatists: What to know

Iran said an agreement was reached with Iraq to expel or hand over members of Kurdish separatist groups based in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Trucks loaded with goods wait to cross over to Syria

Analysis

How Hormuz crisis is reshaping economic ties between Iraq and Syria

Iraq and Syria are expanding trade and energy cooperation, but security risks, economic challenges and longstanding mistrust raise questions about whether their growing partnership can endure.

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Oct. 14, 2026, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Iraq’s Zaidi, Saudi crown prince discuss security as Houthi attacks escalate

Iraq has moved to improve ties with Saudi Arabia after Iran-backed militias struck the kingdom and amid the conflict with the Houthis in Yemen.

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters arrive in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk on May 14, 2013, after leaving Turkey as part of a peace drive with Ankara.

Explainer

PKK pulls out of Metina in northern Iraq amid Turkey peace process

The withdrawal comes as the peace process between Turkey and the militant group gains momentum alongside increasing security cooperation between Ankara and Baghdad.

Latest News

Analysis

Why Syria and Iraq are taking different approaches to armed groups

Demonstrators ride through a street while waving Syrian flags

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Iraq devalues dinar 13% as Hormuz disruption hits oil revenue

A man walks past a closed foreign exchange office in Baghdad on October 7, 2026. Iraq's central bank devalued the dinar currency against the dollar on October 7, with the country facing a deepening crisis brought on by the Middle East war. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer

What Iraq’s US troop withdrawal means for security after Kirkuk killings

A member of the Iraqi security forces flashes the victory sign during a military parade

Analysis

After US exit, Iran gains space in Iraq and a harder balancing act

Members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) paramilitary forces stand guard during an election rally for the "Asaib Ahl al-Haq" movement in the capital Baghdad, on October 7, 2021.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Suadad al-Salhy

In Baghdad, reporting on politics and security

Lyse Mauvais

In Amman, reporting on humanitarian crises

Winthrop Rodgers

In Sulaymaniyah, reporting on Kurdish issues

Smoke rises from the site of a bomb attack in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region, April 17, 2015. A car bomb exploded on a road outside the U.S. Consulate and compound in Erbil on Friday, a Reuters witness said. The consulate houses U.S. diplomats and staff but there was no immediate reports of casualties. Gunfire was heard immediately after the blast but stopped later, the witness said. REUTERS/Stringer - RTR4XRWU

Islamic State infiltrates Iraqi Kurdistan

The Islamic State is exploiting divides in Iraqi Kurdistan to radicalize youths.

Children, who fled from the violence in Mosul, play during sunset inside the Khazer refugee camp on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region, June 27, 2014. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the most influential Shi'ite cleric in Iraq, called on the country's leaders on Friday to choose a prime minister within the next four days, a dramatic political intervention that could hasten the end of Nuri al-Maliki's eight year rule. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS SOCIETY TPX IMAGES

The 'Caliphate Cubs' of IS

According to witnesses, the Islamic State has been recruiting children in Iraq and Syria and enrolling them in special training camps.

Shi'ite Muslims attend Friday prayers at the Imam Hussein shrine in the holy city of Kerbala July 18, 2014. Iraq's top Shi'ite Muslim cleric criticised the government and international agencies on Friday for failing to do enough to help hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by fighting between government forces and Sunni Islamist insurgents. REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR3Z7IR

Iraq's security for Shiites causes controversy

Iraq’s commitment to provide security services to religious visitors is regarded by some as resources that ought to be used to fight terrorism instead.

Tourists walk in the historical city of Palmyra, September 30, 2010. Islamic State fighters in Syria have entered the ancient ruins of Palmyra after taking complete control of the central city, but there are no reports so far of any destruction of antiquities, a group monitoring the war said on May 21, 2015. Picture taken September 30, 2010. REUTERS/Nour Fourat - RTX1E3U1

Congress deals blow to IS looting in Syria

The House passed legislation that would make it illegal to import stolen artifacts.

A grave of an Iraqi soldier is seen at a cemetery in Kerbala, southwest of Baghdad, September 30, 2014. With the tide of deaths registered in Kerbala and elsewhere showing no sign of abating, some Shi'ites are starting to complain out loud that the government and army command are incompetent at best, culpable at worst, and covering up the true of extent of battlefield losses. Picture taken September 30, 2014. REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR4995D

Iraq's growing grave market

As death has become even more a part of daily life in Iraq with the increasing violence and terrorist attacks, people started marketing plots at Al-Salam Valley cemetery, which holds religious significance.

US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz (L) and US Secretary of State John Kerry wait for the start of a trilateral meeting at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne March 28, 2015. The foreign ministers of France and Germany joined the top U.S. and Iranian diplomats on Saturday to help break an impasse in nuclear negotiations as major powers and Iran closed in on a 2- or 3-page accord that could form the basis of a long-term deal. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool - RTR4V9Q6

Capitol Hill counts down days until Iran nuclear deadline

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of June 1.

Displaced Sunni women fleeing the violence in Ramadi, carry bags as they walk on the outskirts of Baghdad, May 24, 2015. Iraqi forces recaptured territory from advancing Islamic State militants near the recently-fallen city of Ramadi on Sunday, while in Syria the government said the Islamists had killed hundreds of people since capturing the town of Palmyra. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX1ED8I

Baghdad stumbles in response to Ramadi refugees

180,000 Iraqis now displaced by the Islamic State from Ramadi; Islamic State benefits from Saudi military intervention in Yemen; Jabhat al-Nusra’s attempted makeover.

A member of al Qaeda's Nusra Front burn a Syrian national flag in the town of the northwestern city of Ariha, after a coalition of insurgent groups seized the area in Idlib province May 29, 2015. The Syrian army has pulled back from the northwestern city of Ariha after a coalition of insurgent groups seized the last city in Idlib province in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border that was still held by the government. A coalition of rebel groups called Jaish al Fateh, or Conquest Army, said it had taken

Al-Qaeda theorist calls for infiltrating political systems

Abdullah bin Mohammed, an al-Qaeda theorist, believes jihadists need to adopt a new strategy of attaining legitimacy by rebranding themselves and working from within political systems, an idea that might already have taken root in Syria.

Displaced Sunni people, who fled the violence in the city of Ramadi, arrive at the outskirts of Baghdad, May 19, 2015. Iraqi security forces on Tuesday deployed tanks and artillery around Ramadi to confront Islamic State fighters who have captured the city in a major defeat for the Baghdad government and its Western backers. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX1DOSG

Ramadi's displaced find restrictions, not refuge, in Baghdad

The exodus of displaced people fleeing Iraq's Anbar province after the Islamic State imposed its control there should be an opportunity for the Iraqi government to unify efforts of all sects in the face of terrorism.

Iraqi gravekeeper Ali Mansur points to the tomb of Gertrude Bell in Iraq April 30, 2006. Bell, an "oriental secretary" to British governments, was credited with drawing the boundaries of modern Iraq out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War One. Bell, also a British traveller, writer and linguist, was one of the most powerful women of the 1920s, an adviser to empire builders and confidante to kings. She died in Baghdad in 1926 and rests in a forgotten cemetery in the capital. Picture t

Reassessing consequences of occupation in Iraq

According to interviews conducted by Al-Monitor, the British and US occupations of Iraq might, arguably, have positive repercussions on the country.

Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani (R) addresses the media during a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Arbil, April 6, 2015. Abadi said the Baghdad government would work with Kurdish authorities to liberate the northern province of Nineveh from Islamic State militants. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RTR4W8W5

Fate of Kurdish presidency divides Iraqi Kurds

As the term of Kurdish President Massoud Barzani is drawing to an end and as the transfer of power is still unknown, some political parties are suggesting a new parliamentary system whereby Barzani would have a mere ceremonial role.

U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey (L) speaks during news conference with Iraq's Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi in Baghdad March 9, 2015. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4SM9Z

Congress debates greater US role in Iraq

Lawmakers are putting pressure on President Barack Obama to rethink Islamic State strategy after fall of Ramadi.