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

Iran cover image

Iraq

July 3, 2026

Baghdad 9:21 pm

37°C

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images

Here's what to know about Iraq's corruption as Zaidi launches crackdown

Watchdogs and financial institutions regard Iraq as a significantly corrupt country as the new prime minister works to recover public funds.

aqi security personnel patrol in a vehicle along a street in Baghdad on June 28, 2026.

Analysis

Iraqi PM’s anti-corruption drive comes as US pressure mounts on Iran-backed militias

Iraq’s new prime minister has launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign ahead of key talks in Washington, but analysts say the real test will be whether it reaches Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed actors.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

A worker at a market for fuel oil and automotive fuel on March 17, 2026, in Erbil, Iraq.

Explainer

After UAE and Qatar, could Iraq be next to leave OPEC?

Iraq is seeking a higher production quota as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has slashed oil revenues and plunged the country into a fiscal crisis.

Latest News

Iraq taps Krikor Der-Hagopian as first Armenian Christian ambassador to US

Krikor Der-Hagopian at the 9th Sulaimani Forum, in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, on April 16, 2025.

Exclusive

Barrack heads to Iraq as US presses Baghdad on Iran-backed militias

Tom Barrack

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Culture

World Cup opens amid visa disputes for Iran, Iraq and Somalia

Members of the Iranian national soccer team including midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh (R) arrive at Tijuana International Airport on June 7, 2026, in Tijuana, Mexico.

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

Dear Alyne screenshot from her trip to Iraq in the video "Is Iraq Dangerous?!"

Culture

YouTube influencers discover Iraq

The most famous content producers on YouTube, including artists, media professionals, and other prominent social media figures, recently visited Iraq.

Palestinian bread baker

World Bank official: Lebanon, Yemen, Syria most food-insecure in region

Many states across the Middle East and North Africa meet the criteria for food insecurity, experts said at a US Institute of Peace event.

ALI NAJAFI/AFP via Getty Images

Iraqi premier advances regional dialogue in Riyadh, Baghdad

Iran and Saudi Arabia appear ready to resume diplomatic talks following Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi's shuttle diplomacy.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi (C) joins mourners as they accompany the casket of the late Iraqi poet Muzaffar al-Nawab through the streets during his funeral procession, Baghdad, Iraq, May 21, 2022.

Militias target again Iraq’s intelligence service

Since Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi took office in mid-2020, extremist Shiite militias have been trying to undermine the National Intelligence Service, which he has been heading since 2016.

Virus Iraq

Iraqi health authorities scramble to contain new animal virus outbreak

Viral hemorrhagic fever is spread by contact with animals and can constitute a "public health emergency of international concern."

Iraq Sadr

Explainer: How Sadr's Shiite rivals became largest bloc in Iraq's parliament

Many of the new members of the Council of Representatives taking the place of the 73 Sadrists who resigned are aligned with Iran.

Members of the Iraqi Counterterrorism Service are deployed in the streets of Baghdad on March 27, 2021.

Iraq targets desert 'wali' and braces for impact of possible conflict

Counterterrorism operations in Iraq’s western desert have resulted in the killing of an Islamic State leader as regional tensions rise across the border ahead of a likely Turkish military operation in northern Syria.

Iraq counterterror

Counterterror ops rake in 'high-value targets' in Iraq, Syria

Multiple counterterrorism operations against Islamic State hideouts in both Iraq and Syria in recent weeks have taken out men whom officials claim were leaders within the international terrorist organization.

SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images

Silence from Baghdad as Turkish drone kills Yazidi child in Sinjar

The Iraqi government has yet to comment after a 12-year-old was killed in the latest Turkish strike on northern Iraq's Sinjar region.

ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images

Iraq connects electrical grid with Saudi Arabia

The move could help Iraq with its electricity woes and reduce energy dependence on Iran.

Journalists at Gardenya FM radio return after a report to the station's studio in Arbat refugee camp, east of Sulaimaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan, Nov. 3, 2020.

PKK threatens journalists, lawmakers in Kurdistan as regional tensions rise

The media and a member of the Kurdistan Region parliament have spoken out against threats and pressure from the PKK, as tensions and drone attacks increase.

Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr delivers a speech in the central Iraqi city of Najaf on June 3, 2022.

Sadr withdrawal from Iraqi parliament challenges Shiite rivals

Populist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr withdrew his party members from Iraq's Council of Representatives, introducing a new level of uncertainty into Iraqi politics.