Iraq - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Iran cover image

Iraq

October 28, 2026

Baghdad 4:45 am

26°C

Safin HAMID / AFP via Getty Images

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

Shi'ite fighters from Hashid Shaabi forces launch a rocket during clashes with Islamic State militants on the front line at the Shi'ite Turkman village of Bashir, 20km south of Kirkuk, March 14, 2015. Kurdish peshmerga forces, backed by Shi'ite militia fighters, have been attacking Islamic State-held towns and villages south and west of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, peshmerga sources said. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4TCBR

Iraq’s Shiite forces claim victory over IS

Sheikh Akram al-Kaabi, the leader of Hezbollah al-Nujaba, a major Iraqi Shiite resistance movement fighting IS, tells Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview that his group will target US planes if they get near his forces.

Visitors look at Assyrian mural sculptures from Khorsabad, at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad March 8, 2015. Islamic State militants have desecrated another ancient Iraqi capital, the government said on March 11, 2015, razing parts of the 2,700-year-old city of Khorsabad famed for its colossal statues of human-headed winged bulls. Picture taken March 8, 2015. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily (IRAQ - Tags: SOCIETY CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4SZAO

Islamic State erases centuries of history

According to a sociology professor, extremist groups such as the Islamic State seek to return society to the early Middle Ages, when little to no art, science and culture existed.

Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters and foreign fighters (R) who joined the YPG, man their weapons during what the YPG said was an offensive against them by Islamic State fighters, in the western countryside of Ras al-Ain March 10, 2015. Picture taken March 10, 2015. REUTERS/Rodi Said (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTR4SVQX

US 'working through' extent of support for Syrian rebels

The resolution being considered by Congress does not address protection of vetted Syrian rebels against Syrian government forces; nuclear talks with Iran enter decisive phase amid challenges by Republicans in Congress; Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani determines fate of reconciliation in Iraq; Israeli election is verdict on Benjamin Netanyahu.

Volunteers to fight the Islamic State, from different Iraqi factions including Kurdish and Yazidis, train at a camping area near Kurdish security points on Bashiqa mountain, around 15km Northeast of the Islamic State held city of Mosul, March 7, 2015. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4SFUI

Mosul residents prepare for battle

The Islamic State plans to use Mosul's 1.5 million residents as a human shield in its inevitable battle against the Iraqi army and international forces.

A member of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces stands guard at a security point on Bashiqa mountain, overlooking Islamic State held territories of Mosul, 12 km northeast of Mosul City, March 7, 2015. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR4SF1J

Turkey to support Mosul operation from sidelines

Turkey will provide assistance to the forces organizing to retake Mosul from the Islamic State, but will not engage directly in military conflict.

TO GO WITH STORY BY ARTHUR MACMILLAN
A Bangladeshi worker cleans a table at a Baghdad restaurant on April 04, 2009. Bangladeshis seeking to escape poverty back home have high hopes Baghdad will offer hard cash and prospects for a better life.
AFP PHOTO / ALI YUSSEF (Photo credit should read ALI YUSSEF/AFP/Getty Images)

Iraq's illegal employment agencies

Unregistered recruitment agencies in Iraq bring Asian laborers to work long hours and for wages lower than what Iraqis demand.

A Palestinian girl recites Koran to her teacher during a Koran memorization lesson on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at a mosque in Gaza City June 29, 2014.REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY EDUCATION) - RTR3W9WR

Can you be an Islamist and a feminist?

Feminists and others in the West intent on "liberating" the women of the Muslim world fail to recognize a brand of Islamist feminism demanding public and private space for women to contribute to society.

Shi'ite fighters gather with their weapons next to a sign in the town of al-Alam March 9, 2015. Just north of Tikrit, home city of executed Sunni former president Saddam Hussein, Iraqi security forces and Shi?ite militia fighters began an offensive against Islamic State to regain control over the town of al-Alam. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4SOF4

Lawmakers see Iran's rise as key concern in fight against IS

Republicans focus on Tehran in first hearing since Tikrit offensive.

Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi Army to fight against predominantly Sunni militants, carry weapons and a portrait of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani during a parade in the streets in Baghdad's Sadr city June 14, 2014. An offensive by insurgents that threatens to dismember Iraq seemed to slow on Saturday after days of lightning advances as government forces regained some territory in counter-attacks, easing pressure on the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad. REUTERS/Wissm al-Okili (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL

Will Sistani be able to control popular mobilization forces?

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has distanced himself from politics, while stressing the need for the Iraqi government to build a strong state in which all sects feel equal.

Syrian writer and journalist Samar Yazbek poses on September 26, 2014 in Paris. AFP PHOTO JOEL SAGET (Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

10 Middle Eastern writers you should know

These 10 female writers are challenging conceptions of women in the Middle East.

A man walks past a poster, commemorating Shi'ite fighters who were killed in battles with Islamic State militants, at Tahrir Square in Baghdad February 7, 2015. Baghdad residents commended a decision by Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to end their city's nightime curfew on Saturday. Some form of curfew has been in place since the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, hindering commercial and civilian movement. The midnight (2100 GMT) to 5 a.m. curfew has been in place for more than seven

Iraq needs justice, not revenge

Iraq needs to move away from the mindset of revenge to the mindset of restorative justice.

Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud at Diriyah Farm in Diriyah March 5, 2015. Kerry met Gulf Arab foreign ministers in Riyadh on Thursday to brief them on progress in the nuclear talks with Iran and offer reassurance that any deal would not damage their interests. Kerry arrived in Riyadh late on Wednesday from Montreux, Switzerland, where he said he had made progress in talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that aim to conclude an atomic deal b

Saudi Arabia prepares for Iran nuclear deal

Saudi Arabia has been pulling out the diplomatic stops in an effort to contain Iran in anticipation of what it sees as an unfavorable nuclear deal between the West and the Islamic republic.