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

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Iraq

October 22, 2026

Baghdad 4:28 am

26°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

No quick fix for Iraq's electricity crisis

Previous Iraqi governments' failure to solve the electricity crisis was one of the reasons for the popular protests.

A picture taken on January 13, 2020, during a press tour organised by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State group, shows US army drones at the Ain al-Asad airbase in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. - Iran last week launched a wave of missiles at the sprawling Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and a base in Arbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, both hosting US and other foreign troops, in an operation it dubbed a response to the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the h

Has Iraq failed to control drone movement?

Iraq is facing a new security challenge with its lack of control of drones, which have been increasingly used in the past months.

Iraqi soldiers take position as they disembark from an MI171 helicopter during a joint land and air training with US soldiers from 1st Air Cavalry Brigade at Camp Taji, 25kms north of Baghdad, on March 29, 2010. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Pro-Iran militias continue hitting military bases in Iraq

Hitting military bases in Baghdad and other areas, armed groups linked to Iran continues to call for revenge for the January killing of their former leaders Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Six years after Yazidi massacre, US urged to take 'bolder action'

Iraq's Yazidis say the threat from the Islamic State and other extremist groups is preventing them from returning home.

Iran strikes Kurdish Iranian group in Iraqi territory

Iran sometimes targets the positions of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and other Kurdish Iranian groups based across the border in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Iraqi prime minister presses ahead with promise of early elections

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has committed to early elections, but Iraq's political blocs may resist.

Iraq’s prime minister says early elections to be held in June 2021

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said parliamentary elections will be held June 6, 2021.

Iraq’s government says families of nearly 560 killed in protests to be compensated

The Interior Ministry also announced the arrest of three members of the Iraqi security forces it said were responsible for two protester deaths overnight Sunday.

An Iraqi policeman, wearing a protective mask and gloves due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stands by a water sprinkler on a hot summer day in Baghdad on July 7, 2020. (Photo by SABAH ARAR / AFP) (Photo by SABAH ARAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqis face record-breaking heat, electricity cuts

Protests against the government and frequent power outages are continuing amid Iraq's highest temperatures on record.

Former Iraqi insurgents, members of the Sunni Anbar Awakening, guard a meeting between Sunni and Shiite tribe leaders and clerics in al-Duwanem, southwest of Baghdad, 25 September 2007. The aim of the meeting is to bring back life to the town after it was cleared from al-Qaeda. The formation of the Sahwat al-Anbar, or Anbar Awakening, the grouping of Anbari tribes and former insurgents opposed to Al-Qaeda, traces back to last year, when Al-Qaeda in Iraq conducted its campaign of murder and intimidation thro

Iraqi lawmaker calls for arming tribes amid attacks on Sunni communities

As several Islamic State attacks in Sunni provinces took out local commanders and a community leader in July, a lawmaker from Salahhuddin province has called for the arming of tribes in his region.

Yazidi activist Nadia Murad to appear on 'The Daily Show'

Murad's appearance on the popular US talk and news satire show could showcase her efforts to combat sexual violence and trafficking to a new and big audience.

<<enter caption here>> on April 13, 2015 in Baghdad, Iraq.

Assassinations, kidnappings shake Baghdad

Journalists and activists fear being targeted as another wave of protests and violence occur in Iraq.