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Iraq

July 4, 2026

Baghdad 8:14 am

36°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

An aerial view shows Wadi al-Salam cemetery in the holy city of Najaf, as Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha, Iraq, July 21, 2021.

'Valley of Peace,' largest world cemetery in holy city of Najaf

Wadi al-Salam is an ancient cemetery, the largest graveyard in the world, in Iraq's Shiite city of Najaf, where most Shiite Iraqis want to be buried.

Syrian families sit in a truck after being released from the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected Islamic State fighters, Hasakah governorate, Syria, June 2, 2021.

SDF hands over 50 Iraqi IS suspects as prison concerns mount

The SDF has transferred another group of IS suspects with Iraqi nationality but arrested in Syria, alongside some of the thousands of Iraqis in al-Hol camp, to Iraq as the potential for jailbreaks remains high.

The new US Embassy complex, still under construction, is seen in the heavily fortified Green Zone, on the west bank of the Tigris River, Baghdad, Iraq, Oct. 11, 2007.

Rockets target US Embassy as Iraq struggles to form new government

An attack on US diplomatic offices in Baghdad widely assumed to have been by Iran-linked militias injured Iraqi civilians instead, as Kataib Hezbollah blamed foreign powers.

This image shows a partial view of the Green Zone, which houses the seat the US Embassy, in Baghdad, on Dec. 19, 2021.

Iraq: Woman, child injured in rocket attack on US Embassy

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby reiterated that the United States reserves the right to retaliate for such attacks.

Iraqis stand outside the parliament building, or Council of Representatives, in Baghdad's Green Zone on Feb. 27, 2020.

The Takeaway: Iraq takes first steps toward new government: What comes next

Updates from our regional correspondents on Turkey, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Egypt; multimedia on Israel and Iran — all in about 1,000 words.

Kurdish peshmerga forces learn battlefield first aid techniques from a military doctor during a medical training session on Nov. 3, 2015, in Erbil, Iraq.

IRGC-linked factions step up activity against Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Armed factions in Iraq with links to Iran have increased accusations against Kurds in the country’s autonomous region and may have been behind some recent attacks on them.

Iraq Kuwait

Iraq's credit rating lifts with final reparations payment to Kuwait

Iraq paid Kuwait a final installment of war reparations more than 31 years after the invasion of Kuwait, which may free up funds for new domestic projects.

Anti-government protesters carry a mock coffin during a demonstration calling for resignation of Gov. Nazem al-Waeli and against deteriorating public services, in the province of Dhi Qar on Feb. 26, 2021.

Protests challenge local Iraqi authorities

The popular protests erupted in rejection of local administrations since parliamentary blocs in Iraq neglected to hold provincial elections.

Shiite Muslim clerics march with a banner saying that alcohol is the root of all sin, during a demonstration in Baghdad on Dec. 3, 2020.

Conservative groups seek to shut down concerts in Iraq

Iraqis fear that Islamic parties and armed religious groups are trying to impose their fundamentalist views on social and personal freedoms.

This picture taken on Sept. 26, 2021, shows current parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi.

Iraq's speaker reelected with backing of Muqtada al-Sadr

Mohammed al-Halbusi is Iraq's speaker of parliament for a second term despite opposition from Shiite parties aligned with Iran.

Shiite Muslim men in the military fatigues of Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah wave the party's yellow flags as they march through Baghdad during a parade marking Al-Quds (Jerusalem) International Day on July 25, 2014.

Kataib Hezbollah member’s family massacred in Baghdad

An assassination attempt on a member of the Popular Mobilization Units and the massacre of his wife and children have raised questions about security in the Iraqi capital amid continuing US-Iran geopolitical tension in the region.

A supporter of the Iran-backed Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitary forces stands holding a picture showing the faces of (L to R) slain Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis during a demonstration outside the entrance to the Iraqi capital Baghdad's highly-fortified Green Zone on Nov. 7, 2020, demanding the departure of remaining US forces from Iraq.

Coalition hits back at Iran-backed groups

A sharp uptick in drone and rocket attacks allegedly by Iran-backed groups have targeted bases housing US-led coalition forces in both Syria and Iraq as part of a push to force all US troops to leave the region.