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Iraq

July 19, 2026

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Iraq

Breaking | Last Updated: July 18, 2026, 4:27 pm

International oil firms halt production in Iraq’s Kurdistan amid US-Iran escalation

The move follows the deaths of two US service members in an Iranian attack on Jordan.

US President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Prime Minister of Iraq Ali al-Zaidi during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, July 14, 2026.

Analysis

What Zaidi's Washington visit means for US investment in Iraq

Iraq could greatly benefit from US investment in gas capture, which could help reduce the country's dependence on neighboring Iran.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Hussein FALEH / AFP via Getty Images

Chevron, ConocoPhillips advance Iraq's Hormuz alternatives

Oil agreements have been announced or are expected to be signed on Friday, toward the end of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi's visit to the United States.

Latest News

Trump hosts Iraqi PM Zaidi as Iran war intensifies

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi meets with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, DC, July 14, 2026.

Analysis

On first foreign trip, Iraqi PM Zaidi woos Trump but Iran casts long shadow

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at a Council of Ministers meeting in Baghdad on July 11, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

Can a UAE-backed Syria-Iraq corridor become Gulf's next trade route?

An aerial view shows port of the western Syrian port city of Latakia, on Dec. 18, 2024.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

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

Russian soldiers unload a Russian Sukhoi SU-25 plane in al-Muthanna Iraqi military base at Baghdad airport in Baghdad, June 28, 2014. The first batch of Russian fighter jets arrived in Baghdad on Saturday to help Iraqi forces battle Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters in the country's north. Picture taken June 28, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY TRANSPORT CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR3W9NZ

Russia's military bid in Iraq

Moscow has seized an opening by delivering fighter jets to Iraq.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of the parliament of his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara on June 24, 2014. AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Erdogan: 'No one should expect me to provoke ISIS'

Turkey pursues a cautious policy while Iraq's military crisis escalates.

Iraq’s ambassador to US: war with ISIS 'acid test' of US-Iraq ties

Lukman Faily, Iraq’s ambassador to the United States, says that in light of the urgency of the Iraq crisis, “we will not be in a position to choose our partners and whoever is available to help us in our survival war, then we will take that.”

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, April 20, 2014. For Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, a politician who saw himself as the one who rescued Iraq from civil war in the last decade, the current state of affairs amounts to a stunning reversal of fortune as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters inch towards the capital and Shiite militias he vanquished assert their influence again. Picture taken April 20, 2014. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ

Allawi: US policy toward Iraq 'without a compass'

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi says that the Iraqi army "has lost its identity and its role" as a result of the current Iraqi government's policies.

A woman buys bread at a bakery in the city of Mosul, June 24, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held crisis talks with leaders of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Tuesday urging them to stand with Baghdad in the face of a Sunni insurgent onslaught that threatens to dismember the country. Picture taken June 24, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT BUSINESS FOOD SOCIETY) - RTR3VNJJ

Iraqis fear uncertain future in areas under 'Islamic State'

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is not the only group operating in regions now under its banner.

A Jordanian police stands guard at a checkpoint near the Jordanian Karameh border crossing at the Jordanian-Iraqi border, near Ruweished city, June 25, 2014. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3VOZ6

Jordan shaken by threats from ISIS, Iraq, Syria

The kingdom faces a security crisis over conflicts involving neighboring Iraq and Syria, a jihadist enclave on its border, waves of refugees, and returning terrorist fighters from both countries.

Iraqi Sunni Muslims take part in an anti-government demonstration in Ramadi, 100 km (62 miles) west of Baghdad,April 19, 2013. Thousands of Sunni Muslims protested after Friday prayers in huge rallies against Shi'ite Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, demanding that he step down. REUTERS/Ali al-Mashhadani (IRAQ - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXYSEV

Saudi Arabia sees allies among Iraq's Sunni tribes

The kingdom is distinguishing between Sunni tribes opposed to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and terrorist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

A member of the Iraqi security forces takes position during a patrol looking for militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) at the border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, June 23, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Iraq's prime minister in Baghdad on Monday to push for a more inclusive government, even as Baghdad's forces abandoned the border with Jordan, leaving the entire Western frontier outside government control. REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS M

Saudi Arabia threatened by ISIS advance in Iraq

Despite their problems with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Saudi leaders consider the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) a threat to the kingdom.

A fighter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) holds an ISIL flag and a weapon on a street in the city of Mosul, June 23, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held crisis talks with leaders of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Tuesday urging them to stand with Baghdad in the face of a Sunni insurgent onslaught that threatens to dismember the country. Picture taken June 23, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3VIB1

Fars News objects to Arab media coverage of Iraq

Fars News has criticized Arab-language media coverage of Iraq, revealing some of Iran's concerns about the crisis.

Jordanian military helicopters fly near Ruweished, near Jordan's eastern border with Iraq, east of Amman June 23, 2014. Sunni tribesmen took control of a border crossing between Iraq and Jordan after Iraq's army pulled out of the area following clashes with rebels, Iraqi and Jordanian intelligence sources said on Monday. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3V9QN

Israel sees Jordan as buffer against regional 'madness'

Most Israeli security officials wonder how much longer Jordan can cope with the threats on its other borders.

- 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).