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

Iran cover image

Iraq

July 1, 2026

Baghdad 5:12 pm

43°C

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.

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

Analysis

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

Iraq’s new prime minister has launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign ahead of key talks in Washington, but analysts say the real test will be whether it reaches Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed actors.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Explainer

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

Iraq is seeking a higher production quota as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has slashed oil revenues and plunged the country into a fiscal crisis.

Latest News

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.

Exclusive

Barrack heads to Iraq as US presses Baghdad on Iran-backed militias

Tom Barrack

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Culture

World Cup opens amid visa disputes for Iran, Iraq and Somalia

Members of the Iranian national soccer team including midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh (R) arrive at Tijuana International Airport on June 7, 2026, in Tijuana, Mexico.

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

Islamic State increases attacks in Iraq’s Sunni areas

The Islamic State has conducted several attacks in recent weeks on the Sunni-majority provinces of Anbar and Salahuddin.

Iranian commander killed in airstrike on Iraq-Syria border

No one has yet taken responsibility for the bombing that killed the IRGC commander.

Will reopening of border crossing drive Saudi investment in Iraq?

Iraq and Saudi Arabia are opening the Arar border crossing, a move that should boost Saudi investment in Iraq.

A F-16 jet fighter of Royal Dutch Air Force lands on the runway of Volkel air base, southern Netherlands, on January 2, 2019. - The Dutch Air Force took part in the Air Task Force Middle East mission to fight against ISIS in Iraq and Eastern Syria. (Photo by Remko de Waal / ANP / AFP) / Netherlands OUT (Photo credit should read REMKO DE WAAL/AFP via Getty Images)

The Netherlands to send new troops to Iraq as coalition shifts to advisory role

The Dutch now take the helm of a training mission that focuses on "expert specialized capabilities."

An Iraqi woman stands at passport control as she waits to have her passport stamped at the Arar southern Iraqi border crossing with Saudi Arabia on November 11, 2009. A group of Iraqi Shiite Muslim pilgrims left their homes in the city of Karbala to join an overland tour that will taken them to the Saudi holy city of Mecca where they will take part in the annual Hajj or pilgrimages. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED SAWAF (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED SAWAF/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq-Saudi border crossing reopens after 30 years

The Arar crossing has remained closed since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

Iraq increases deficit to pay salaries

The Iraqi parliament voted on the funding deficit law so that it can borrow to pay salaries that have been in arrears for more than two months.

Rockets fall in Baghdad after Pentagon announces Iraq troop reduction

One child was killed and at least five other people were injured, the Iraqi military said.

US to reduce troops in Iraq but not Syria, official says

US national security officials say Trump's order to end wars will not halt the Pentagon's counterterror operations abroad.

Iraqi KRG checkpoints part of crackdown on PKK

Turkish attacks on the PKK in Iraq's Kurdistan Region have forced the KRG to increase checkpoints and security.

US Vice President Joe Biden meets with General Lloyd Austin, the commander of United States Forces - Iraq (USF-I), and US ambassador in Iraq James Jeffrey at the US embassy upon the former's arrival at Baghdad on a surprise visit on November 29, 2011, during which he is due to meet top Iraqi officials, as American troops depart Iraq ahead of a year-end deadline. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo by Ahmad AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden unlikely to turn back in Iraq

Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel says Biden knows Iraq "as well or better than just about anyone."

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 22: James Jeffrey, State Department special representative for Syria engagement and special envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, waits for the beginning of a hearing before Senate Foreign Relations Committee October 22, 2019 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The committee held a hearing on "Assessing the Impact of Turkey's Offensive in Northeast Syria." (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

US threat to shutter Baghdad embassy 'ongoing,' says Syria envoy

Outgoing US Syria envoy James Jeffrey says the State Department's threats to close the US Embassy in Iraq is "very serious."

A man counts a pile of US Dollar bank notes in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on May 4, 2020, during the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis. - With its financial outlook darkening by the day, Iraq is considering slashing its massive public payroll -- an unpopular move likely to renew protests.
OPEC's second-largest producer has been hit hard by the double-whammy of collapsed crude prices and the COVID-19 pandemic, which have hacked at its revenues from oil sales. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD A

International financial alliance forms to help Iraq

Several countries are forming an economic alliance to help Iraq in its financial crisis.