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Iraq

October 21, 2026

Baghdad 10:54 am

29°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

Members of the Iraqi-Kurdish Peshmerga forces attend a handover and US military and logistic assistance distribution ceremony to the Peshmerga Ministry of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the Arbil the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq on November 10, 2020. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

One reported dead in fight between Kurdish groups in Iraq

A peshmerga soldier in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq reportedly died during a fight with the PKK on Sunday amid tensions between the two groups as well as with Turkey.

International court finds UK war crimes in Iraq but will not open investigation

The International Criminal Court has closed its probe because it could not conclude that UK authorities were unwilling to genuinely carry out an investigation.

Dozens killed, injured in Iraq’s Kurdistan protests as some consider leaving

Protests in the southeastern part of the Kurdistan Region over unpaid public sector salaries amid an ongoing budget dispute with Baghdad have led to several deaths.

Death toll mounts as Iraqi Kurdish protests continue

The unrest in Iraq's northern Sulaimaniyah province has left at least nine people dead.

Supporters of Iraq's Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr demonstrate in Tahrir Square in Baghdad on November 27, 2020. - Tens of thousands of supporters of the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gathered in the Iraqi capital in a show of political power, as the legislative elections are scheduled for next June. (Photo by Ahmad AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqi government presses ahead with early elections next year

The Iraqi government is striving to make the legal and political preparations for elections in June 2021, amid multiple political and security challenges.

Iraq’s president urges end to violence in protest-hit Sulaimaniyah

Iraqi President Barham Salih weighed in on the increasingly violent protests that have gripped the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

TOPSHOT - A view shows the ravaged al-Idara al-Mahalia stadium, which was once used by Islamic State group fighters as a weapons depot, near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on October 22, 2020. - Jihadi fighters from the Islamic State (IS) group seized Mosul in 2014, later expanding its so-called 'caliphate' to over a third of Iraq and into neighbouring Syria. In 2017, Iraqi and coalition forces forced the hardened insurgents out in a grinding urban battle that left the ancient city in ruins. The bullet-ri

Egypt wins strong foothold in Iraq’s reconstruction

Millions of Egyptian workers may benefit from their government's involvement in Iraq’s massive reconstruction process.

Iraqi government considers sales tax to relieve budget crisis

Iraq is mulling the possibility of imposing a sales tax amid concerns over the consequences of such a move on Iraqis already struggling in a down economy.

Egyptian soldiers stand guard during an organised tour for diplomats to mark the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of the Suez Canal, in the northeastern city of Ismailia on November 17, 2019. - One hundred and fifty years after the Suez Canal opened, the international waterway is hugely significant to the economy of modern-day Egypt, which nationalised it in 1956. The canal, dug in the 19th century using "rudimentary tools" and which links the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, was opened to navigation in 1

Egypt, Iraq deepen defense ties

Egypt and Iraq are expanding defense industry ties in a sign of deepening engagement among Cairo, Baghdad and Amman.

Shiite factions close to Sistani move to separate from Iran-backed militias

Brigades close to top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani announced the formation of a mobilization force affiliated with the chief of staff of the Iraqi armed forces, rather than Iran.

Muqtada Sadr is preparing a bid to gain Iraq’s prime minister position

The populist cleric appears to be gearing up for the upcoming parliamentary elections slated for June 2021 in a bid to win the premiership.

The remains of carved feet of a "Lamassu" statue, an Assyrian deity often depicted as a winged-bull with a human head, stands inside the destroyed museum of Mosul on April 2, 2017 after Iraqi forces recaptured it from Islamic State (IS) group fighters.
Iraqi forces seized the museum from IS on March 7 as they pushed into west Mosul as part of a vast offensive to oust the jihadists from the northern city. / AFP PHOTO / AHMAD GHARABLI (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Scarred but still standing, Mosul museum reopens at last

Ninevah’s renowned cultural heritage museum, known for the Islamic State's disastrous attack on its treasures, has finally reopened to the public.