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Iraq

July 14, 2026

Baghdad 7:17 am

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Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at a Council of Ministers meeting in Baghdad on July 11, 2026.

Analysis

On first foreign trip, Iraqi PM Zaidi woos Trump but Iran casts long shadow

Iraq's new prime minister is in Washington promising business deals and closer ties with the United States, but convincing the Trump administration he can rein in Iran-backed militias may prove his toughest challenge.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

An aerial view shows port of the western Syrian port city of Latakia, on Dec. 18, 2024.

Analysis

Can a UAE-backed Syria-Iraq corridor become Gulf's next trade route?

On June 26, Emirati and Syrian officials discussed plans for a logistics corridor connecting Syrian ports to Gulf markets via Iraq.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images

Here's what to know about Iraq's corruption as Zaidi launches crackdown

Watchdogs and financial institutions regard Iraq as a significantly corrupt country as the new prime minister works to recover public funds.

Latest News

Analysis

Iraqi PM’s anti-corruption drive comes as US pressure mounts on Iran-backed militias

aqi security personnel patrol in a vehicle along a street in Baghdad on June 28, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Explainer

After UAE and Qatar, could Iraq be next to leave OPEC?

A worker at a market for fuel oil and automotive fuel on March 17, 2026, in Erbil, Iraq.

Iraq taps Krikor Der-Hagopian as first Armenian Christian ambassador to US

Krikor Der-Hagopian at the 9th Sulaimani Forum, in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, on April 16, 2025.

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

Iran website denies Qasem Soleimani sidelined

A conservative Iranian website has denied reports by Arab media that Quds Force Cmdr. Gen. Qasem Soleimani has been replaced.

A Christian woman carries a cross during a demonstration against militants of the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), in Arbil, north of Baghdad July 24, 2014. Hundreds of Iraqi Christians marched to the United Nations office in Arbil city on Thursday calling for help for families who fled in the face of threats by Islamic State militants. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR400H7

Erbil Christians torn between arming themselves or leaving

Kurdish officials in Erbil met with a Lebanese delegation headed by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil and discussed the possibility of establishing a Christian armed brigade to fight the Islamic State in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Iraq's Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi speaks during a press conference in Baghdad August 25, 2014. Abadi on Monday predicted a "clear vision" on a new government would emerge within the next two days, state television reported, as the country faces deepening sectarian conflict. REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR43O7D

Iraqi politicians must focus on priorities over infighting

During efforts to form a new government, Iraq’s leaders should prioritize national unity instead of personal and party interests.

Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli (L) speaks during a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in Islamabad on May 6, 2014. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will travel to Iran on May 12 in a visit seen as an attempt to improve relations frayed by the kidnapping of Iranian border guards. AFP PHOTO/Aamir QURESHI (Photo credit should read AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran interior minister says advisers sent to Iraqi Kurdistan

Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli has admitted that Iran sent advisers to Iraqi Kurdistan at the request of Kurdish officials.

Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Nizar al-Khairallah (R) greets Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil (L) at the Baghdad airport in Baghdad, August 18, 2014. REUTERS/Ali Abbas/Pool (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR42T21

Baghdad welcomes Lebanese, but they don't see eye to eye

The Lebanese delegation to Baghdad offers diplomatic help to confront the Islamic State (IS), but it seems both parties have different priorities.

Tribal fighters and members of Iraqi security forces take part in an intensive security deployment on the outskirts of Diyala province June 14, 2014. The insurgent offensive that has threatened to dismember Iraq spread to the northwest of the country on Sunday, when Sunni militants launched a dawn raid on a town close to the Syrian border, clashing with police and government forces. Picture taken June 14, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3TVVI

IS withdrawal strategy calls for creation of local defense forces

To fight the Islamic State, the Iraqi government should create Sunni local defense forces, similar to the Kurdish peshmerga forces, even though this might be at the expense of the government’s unity.

Peshmerga fighters walk at Mosul Dam in northern Iraq August 21, 2014. Iraqi and Kurdish forces recaptured Iraq's biggest dam from Islamist militants with the help of U.S. air strikes to secure a vital strategic objective in fighting that threatens to break up the country, Kurdish and U.S. officials said on Monday. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR438UJ

Russia keeps eye on Islamic State

Russia views the expansion of the Islamic State in Iraq as a threat to its own security, especially given the potential return home of Russian-born jihadists.

Davutoglu faces uneasy relationship with Assad

Ahmet Davutoglu declared two years ago in his role as foreign minister that he would rather resign than shake Bashar al-Assad’s hand; he now has to find a way to coexist with Syria.

Iraqi military personnel distribute water to Shiite Iraqi Kurds, known as "Shabak", displaced by fierce fighting between Kurdish peshmerga forces and jihadist militants from the Islamic State (IS) after arriving on the road between Kirkuk and Arbil having fled the area of Bartala near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, on August 8, 2014. Jihadists seized Iraq's largest dam north of their hub of Mosul, giving them control over the supply of water and electricity for a vast area, officials said. AFP PHOTO / MA

IS threatens Iraq's minority Shabak community

Iraq's Shabak minority is in danger, targeted by the Islamic State.

Iraqi refugees, who fled from the violence in Mosul, walk 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) - RT

No end in sight for Islamic State’s attack on Iraq

In addition to targeting Shiites and religious minorities, the Islamic State are also threatening Iraq's Sunnis.

Smoke rises from debris and a burnt car after a house was destroyed in a bomb attack in Fallujah, west of Baghdad July 19, 2014. The shelling of the city of Fallujah on Saturday killed 13 people and injured 17 others, according to police. Picture taken July 19, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR3ZEH4

Sunnis do not believe Abadi is solution to Iraq's crises

Members of the local council in Anbar province say that replacing Nouri al-Maliki with Haider al-Abadi will not solve the problems Sunnis have endured under Maliki’s rule.

Shi'ite volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against militants of the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), carry a picture of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf, August 16, 2014. School is out, but northern Baghdad's classrooms are packed - not with students, but with people who have travelled further than most to escape the Sunni militant onslaught splitting Iraq. REUTERS/Alaa Al

How did Sistani succeed in ousting Maliki?

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani's fortitude, persistence and commitment to a more inclusive Iraqi democracy, along with his outreach to Iran, thwarted Nouri al-Maliki's attempt to serve a third term as prime minister.