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Iraq

October 21, 2026

Baghdad 8:12 am

22°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

A picture taken on January 30, 2020, shows a collection of Ushabtis or funerary figurines discovered among many archeological finds in 3000-year-old communal tombs dedicated to high priests, in Al-Ghoreifa in Tuna al-Jabal in the Minya governorate. - Egypt's antiquities ministry unveiled 16 tombs of ancient high priests containing 20 sarcophagi, including one dedicated to the sky god Horus, discovered at the archaeological site, about 300 kilometres (186 miles) south of Cairo. The shared tombs were dedicate

Egypt agrees to help Iraq recover looted antiquities

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced its readiness to cooperate with Iraq in recovering its stolen and looted antiquities, especially from Turkey, where the looted Iraqi artifacts are displayed in museums.

Iraqi youths watch an event celebrating the inauguration of a street named after the late Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in the southern city of Basra on January 8, 2021, more than a year after a US drone strike killed Iran's revered commander Qasem Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant Muhandis (image) near the capital. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP) (Photo by HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqi Kurdish officials call Iran's Soleimani film 'insult' to Peshmerga

Peshmerga that fought on the front lines against the Islamic State see the film as an "insult and belittling the role of Peshmergas."

Iraq's reform budget heads to parliament

Parliament is debating the 2021 budget, which is the first budget drafted based on the White Paper for economic reform.

Turkish National Defence Minister Hulusi Akar gives a press conference at the ministry in Ankara on January 13, 2021. (Photo by Arif AKDOGAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ARIF AKDOGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Will Turkish defense minister’s Iraq visit yield concrete results?

Although Turkey's defense minister seems to be satisfied with the outcome of his recent visit to Baghdad and Erbil, there are several impediments to Turkey's security demands.

Iraqi mourners carry the coffin of a victim who was killed in a twin suicide bombing in central Baghdad, during a funeral in the holy city of Najaf on January 21, 2021. - A rare twin suicide bombing killed 32 people and wounded 110 at a crowded market in central Baghdad, Iraq's government said, the city's deadliest attack in three years.
The first attacker drew a crowd at the bustling market in the capital's Tayaran Square by claiming to feel sick, then detonated his explosives belt, the interior ministry s

Iraqi PM vows security changes after Baghdad bombing

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi also sacked a number of Iraqi security officials within hours of the attacks.

A picture shows the scene of a twin suicide bombing on a bustling commercial street in the heart of Baghdad on January 21, 2021. - The toll in a twin suicide bombing in an open-air Baghdad market morning topped 20 dead and 40 wounded, an interior ministry official told AFP. The ministry said the first suicide bomber had rushed into the market and claimed to feel sick, so that people would gather around him. He then detonated his explosives. (Photo by Sabah ARAR / AFP) (Photo by SABAH ARAR/AFP via Getty Imag

Dozens killed in Baghdad suicide bombings

It is unclear who was behind the twin attacks in a crowded part of Baghdad. Such incidents are less common in the Iraqi capital than they were in years prior.

Employees of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission Center register voters in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in the Dhi Qar province, on January 12, 2021. - Iraq's early parliamentary elections were promised by the PM for June but according to officials and politicians they are highly unexpected to be held without several month of delay. (Photo by Asaad NIAZI / AFP) (Photo by ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq’s general elections pushed to October

The added time shores up Baghdad’s preparations for a more legitimate election process; but time is running out for protesters who fear the government will ignore their demands.

An Iraqi woman updates her voter registration at the Independent High Electoral Commission Center in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in the Dhi Qar province on January 12, 2021. - Iraq's early parliamentary elections were promised by the PM for June but according to officials and politicians they are highly unexpected to be held without several month of delay. (Photo by Asaad NIAZI / AFP) (Photo by ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqi parties scramble ahead of new October election date

The High Electoral Commission’s need for additional time to update constituents' records requires that the government postpone early elections until October, while political parties publicly oppose the new date and secretly support it.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY MARWAN IBRAHIM
An Iraqi Arab farmer looks at arid agricultural land in the Hawijah district of Kirkuk in northern Iraq on January 29, 2011. A worsening water shortage in Iraq is raising tensions in the multi-ethnic Kirkuk province, where Arab farmers accuse the Kurdistan region of ruining them by closing the valves to a dam in winter. AFP PHOTO/MARWAN IBRAHIM (Photo credit should read MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq approves Paris climate accord in step toward curtailing oil dependence

Iraq faces significant hurdles in transitioning to an economy without oil dependence, and future trends can be expected to exacerbate those challenges.

Iraqi port revenue surges as anti-corruption move bears fruit

Iraq’s key Umm Qasr Port has been positively affected by measures to reduce corruption, leading to a massive revenue increase in 2020 despite fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans for the massive, nearby Faw Port and an electronic system being put in place may also serve to shore up state coffers and reduce those of “outlaw” groups.

US labels deputy head of Iraq’s PMU a terrorist

The United States accused Abu Fadak of involvement in kidnappings and of attempting to align Iraq's security institution's with Iran's foreign policy.

Iran offers to help Iraq reconstruct damaged archaeological masterpiece

Iran has expressed interest in helping repair the Taq Kasra, the remains of a pre-Islamic Persian palace in Iraq with a historically significant archway.