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

Iran cover image

Iraq

May 9, 2026

Baghdad 4:48 pm

33°C

Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr gives a speech in Iraq's central holy shrine city of Najaf on August 30, 2022.

Iraq’s Sadr says 'exclude' armed groups from next government as pressure builds

The cleric's call comes as Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi tries to form a government amid political divisions and US demands to curb the influence of Iran-backed actors.

Popular Mobilization Forces

US sets expectations for Iraq’s next PM to confront Iranian militias

The Trump administration is cautiously sizing up Iraq’s new prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, as a potential partner in pushing back on Iranian influence.

Zaidi

Analysis

Iraq’s Zaidi offers economic promise for Turkey but unknowns loom

Iraq’s prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, is expected to sustain growing economic and strategic ties with Turkey thanks to his business-oriented approach, though uncertainty over his political stance could test cooperation on sensitive issues.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Analysis

US banking on Iraqi turnaround with nomination of Zaidi as new PM

Ali Al-Zaidi

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Trump congratulates Iraq PM-designate Zaidi in call: What to know

Iraq's prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, at Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's office on April 28, 2026.

Meet Ali al-Zaidi, businessman and Iraq's new prime minister-designate

Prime Minister Mohammed S. al-Sudani met with Prime Minister-designate Ali Faleh al-Zaidi on April 28, 2026.

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

- PHOTO TAKEN 12MAY1999 - Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein (R) is decorated with a medal presented to him by his deputy Izzat Ibrahim in Baghdad in this May 12, 1999 file photo. Ibrahim, the most senior member of the former regime, has died, [Al Arabiya satellite television quoted a Baath party statement as saying on Friday.] He is number six on the U.S. military's list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis, with a $10 million reward offered for his capture. - RTXNYC5

Iraq's 'Sunni' rebellion shows splits between ISIS, others

After mostly ejecting government forces from Sunni areas, the differences over the next stage between ISIS and other Sunni factions will soon emerge.

Flames rise from an Egyptian pipeline distribution station after an attack in the Sinai peninsula July 12, 2011. Saboteurs blew up the distribution station in northern Sinai on Tuesday that supplies natural gas to Israel, the official MENA news agency said. It was the fourth attack on facilities supplying Egyptian gas to Israel this year. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR2OS5A

Will ISIS find fertile ground in Egypt's Sinai?

Tribal elders in the Sinai Peninsula say links are growing between local jihadists from Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

Syrian Kurdish leader: Turkey turns blind eye to ISIS

Salih Muslim, the leader of the Syrian Kurdish movement PYD, gives an exclusive interview to Al-Monitor on post-Mosul developments and Turkey's alleged support for ISIS.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.

Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp, attends a news conference in Tehran February 7, 2011. REUTERS/STRINGER (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTXXKFA

Revolutionary Guard calls Iran 'island of stability'

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps has said that the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s was instrumental in bolstering Iran's security.

Iraqi Shi'ite Turkmen fighters take part in an intensive security deployment in the town of Taza, south of the northern oil city of Kirkuk, June 19, 2014. The United States is contemplating talks with its arch-enemy Iran to support the Iraqi government in its battle with Sunni Islamist insurgents who routed Baghdad's army and seized the north of the country in the past week. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR3UORW

Iraqi Turkmen feel abandoned by Turkey

Many Iraqi Turkmen claim Turkey has given priority to its relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government at their expense.

Free Syrian Army fighters stand at a former base used by fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), after the ISIL withdrew from the town of Azaz, near the Syrian-Turkish border, March 11, 2014. Syrian refugees in this border outpost were delighted to hear their home town of Azaz had been liberated - not from Bashar al-Assad's troops but from al-Qaeda fighters who subjected them to a regime that included torture and public beheadings. For Syrians who three years ago rose up against 43 ye

ISIS advance should mean more arms for Syrian opposition

The advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) into Iraq should spur action to bolster moderate Syrian opposition groups against both ISIS and the Assad government.

Egyptian-born Muslim cleric Yusuf Al-Qaradawi arrives at the London Central Mosque, July 9, 2004. Leading Muslim theologian Qaradawi, who condemned the September 11 attacks and the Bali bomb but condones some suicide bombings, will have all his speeches monitored whilst he is in Britain, Britain's Home Secretary David Blunkett said on July 7. REUTERS/Peter Macdiarmid PKM/ASA/WS - RTR67I1

Radical clerics add fuel to fire in Iraq crisis

Amid the advancement of militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and other armed groups in Iraq, radical Sunni and Shiite clerics are issuing statements that flare up the sectarian tension in the country.

Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) celebrate on vehicles taken from Iraqi security forces, at a street in city of Mosul, June 12, 2014. Since Tuesday, black clad ISIL fighters have seized Iraq's second biggest city Mosul and Tikrit, home town of former dictator Saddam Hussein, as well as other towns and cities north of Baghdad. They continued their lightning advance on Thursday, moving into towns just an hour's drive from the capital. Picture taken June 12, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (I

Mosul's rude awakening on ISIS

Edward Dark writes that Iraqis who may have welcomed the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) as liberators will soon have a rude awakening; a first-hand report of Syria’s barrel bombs; the ISIS threat to Lebanon; video of the IPI Free Media Pioneer Awards.

How a Turkish girl broke the heart of a shah

In her latest book, Turkish novelist Nazli Eray shares the story of her mother, a woman whose beauty once stunned Middle East elites and left the Iranian shah heartbroken.

$Supporters of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad wave the national flags and chant slogans in front of General Federation of Trade Unions building, during presidential election in Damascus June 3, 2014. Syrians began voting on Tuesday in an election expected to deliver an overwhelming victory to President Bashar al-Assad in the midst of a civil war that has fractured the country and killed more than 160,000 people. REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3RXFT$

Can Syria help defeat ISIS?

The Syrian government, which has recently engaged the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in battle, might share an interest with the United States in defeating the terror organization.

Mehdi Army fighters loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr march during a military-style training in the holy city of Najaf, June 16, 2014. The United States said it could launch air strikes and act jointly with its arch-enemy Iran to support the Iraqi government, after a rampage by Sunni Islamist insurgents across Iraq that has scrambled alliances in the Middle East. REUTERS/Ahmad Mousa (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR3U41A

Escalating crisis drives surge in Iraq's messianic movements

Political and economic hardships in Iraq have contributed to the rise of radical Messianic movements that claim to represent the return of the Mahdi.

Iraqi soldiers stand beside Al-Yaroubia crossing in the province of Hasakah November 10, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTX158J9

Iraqi Kurds seize control of key Syria border crossing

The Syria-based Democratic Union Party (PYD) fears a return to isolation after a Kurdish rival, the Iraq-based Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), captures the Rabia border crossing.