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

Iran cover image

Iraq

October 29, 2026

Baghdad 1:38 am

26°C

Zaidi

Iraq's Zaidi meets Sharaa on first Syria visit: What to know

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has sought to assuage concerns about his past militant activity in Iraq, whose oil trade and security cooperation with his two country is rising.

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.

Latest News

Explainer

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

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.

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

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

A fighter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) holds an ISIL flag and a weapon on a street in the city of Mosul, June 23, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held crisis talks with leaders of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Tuesday urging them to stand with Baghdad in the face of a Sunni insurgent onslaught that threatens to dismember the country. Picture taken June 23, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3VIB1

Turkey wakes up to Islamic State threat

An inflammatory sermon in Istanbul has made Turkey realize that the Islamic State has become a serious threat to its internal security and stability.

A view of damaged houses during a patrol in the city of Ramadi, 100 km (62 miles) west of Baghdad, May 5, 2014. Iraqi forces are locked in a four-month fight with al Qaeda offshoot the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah. Picture taken May 5, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTR3O0MV

8 months in, clashes in Anbar continue

Houses and shops have been completely destroyed in Anbar as a result of the clashes between the Iraqi army and members of armed factions.

Iraqi Kurds read newspapers at a newspaper stand in Arbil, northern
Iraq, Febuary 19, 2003. Iraqi Kurds in the breakaway enclave of
northern Iraq said they had arrested Iraqi agents threatening the
safety of opposition leaders gathering to plan for the future of Iraq
if the United States topples Saddam Hussein. REUTERS/Caren Firouz

CJF - RTRIL1S

Independent media fades in Iraqi Kurdistan

The proliferation of independent media organizations in Iraqi Kurdistan in the early 2000s is reversing as political parties invest heavily in media outlets while intimidating independent journalists.

Armed tribal fighters take part in a mission to secure an area from militants of the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), in the Hamrin mountains in Diyala province July 25, 2014. Picture taken July 25, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR409ZG

Iraqi volunteers ill-prepared to fight IS

Volunteer fighters are signing up en masse to join the "righteous jihad" against the Islamic State in the name of nationalism and economic opportunity.

New Kurdish Prime Minister Bahram Salih takes an oath after his election by parliament to take office, in Abril, 310 km (190 miles north of Baghdad October 28, 2009. After Kurdish parliamentary elections in July that kept the region's two major parties in power, Kurdish lawmakers have picked Iraq's former deputy prime minister, Barham Salih, to head the new government. Analysts say the move may bring a more cordial tone to tense ties between Kurds and majority Arabs in Baghdad. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ

Why Barham Salih isn't Iraq's new president

Internal politics led to the selection of Fouad Massoum as the Kurdish candidate instead of Barham Salih.

A boy receives treatment after being injured in a shelling, at a hospital in the city of Falluja, 70 km (43 miles) west of Baghdad February 12, 2014. ISIL militants and other Sunni groups angered by the Shi'ite-led government overran Falluja and parts of the nearby city of Ramadi in the western province of Anbar on January 1. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX18OUC

Iraq's Fallujah General Hospital caught in crossfire

The hospital in Fallujah has been targeted on numerous occasions during the fighting there, says a local doctor as Human Rights Watch releases a report on the matter.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks with Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil during a news conference in Beirut May 29, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3RFF8

Lebanon’s Christians react to crisis in Mosul

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry has taken up the cause of the uprooted Christians of Iraq, calling on international organizations to intervene.

Sheikh Ali Hatem Sulaiman, head of the Dulaimi tribe, which dominates Ramadi and the sprawling desert province of Anbar, walks after the end of the a news conference in Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, May 13, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR3ZVR3

Baghdad seethes as Erbil hosts revolutionary tribal conference

A revolutionary tribal leaders conference was held in Erbil, stirring harsh criticism from Baghdad that these armed groups are working with the Islamic State.

Islamic State urges Turkish businessmen to return to Iraq

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Turkey's economy minister says that in addition to IS prompting Turkish businessmen to return to Iraq, trade with Israel remains unaffected despite the current crisis, and 2015 will see an increase in exports and decrease in deficit.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (L) speaks next to speaker of parliament Salim al-Jabouri during a news conference after their meeting with in Baghdad July 26, 2014. Gunmen in army uniforms have seized a senior local official and prominent member of a Sunni Islamist party from his Baghdad home, police and security officials said on Saturday. It was not clear if Riyadh al-Adhdah, who heads Baghdad's Provincial Council and belongs to the Sunni Islamist Iraqi Islamic Party, had been kidnapped by militiamen

Maliki furious over Jordan-hosted Sunni opposition conference

The Iraqi opposition conference held in Jordan put the kingdom in an awkward position with Iraq's prime minister, but some in Iraq called for considering its resolutions because they reflect actual Sunni demands.

Aleppo’s rebels struggle to hold on as regime, IS advance

Rebels in Aleppo say they are preparing a counterattack to recover the vital Sheikh Najjar Industrial City, which was captured by regime forces early this month.

People walk through the rubble of the Prophet Younis Mosque after it was destroyed in a bomb attack by militants of the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the city of Mosul, July 24, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR400PA

Islamic State destroys sacred shrine in Mosul

The shrine of Prophet Jonah was held as sacred by Jews, Christians and Muslims.