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

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Iraq

June 19, 2025

Baghdad 7:01 am

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Ground staff prepare a Middle East Airlines flight for departure on the tarmac at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on May 2, 2025.

From Lebanon to Qatar, Israel-Iran war disrupts flights, airport traffic: What to know

Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines canceled all flights to Iraq through Thursday as the ongoing Israel-Iran war forces widespread disruptions across Middle East aviation.

Stacks of Iraqi dinars are seen at currency exchange shop in Baghdad on February 14, 2023. - Iraq nudged up the value of its local currency against the dollar in an effort to stabilise the dinar after tougher foreign transfer regulations sent its value fluctuating. The government adopted a new official exchange rate, fixing it at 1,300 dinars to the US dollar instead of 1,470, the prime minister's office said. (Photo by Murtaja LATEEF / AFP) (Photo by MURTAJA LATEEF/AFP via Getty Images)

As dinar drops, Iraq says embassies safe in light of US-Iran tension

The Iraqi dinar fell slightly on Thursday, as the country responds to the latest round of potential escalation between the United States and Iran.

A general view shows the US Embassy across the Tigris river in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, on Jan. 3, 2020.

US to evacuate personnel from Iraq following Iran threats

A State Department official said the US “will reduce the footprint of [its] mission in Iraq” to ensure the safety of American personnel.

Muslim worshippers make their way towards the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque complex in in the holy city of Mecca to take part in morning prayers on the first day of Eid Al-Adha, the feast of the sacrifice, early on June 6, 2025.

In photos: Muslims kick off Eid al-Adha across the Middle East

The holiday’s arrival cast a spotlight on deepening humanitarian crises, leadership transitions and shifting regional dynamics.

Latest News

Iraqi Kurdistan PM Barzani backs cautious engagement with Syria’s new rulers

Barzani

US backs more energy investment in Kurdistan region: Energy secretary

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaks with Al-Monitor president Andrew Parasiliti at an Al-Monitor Global Institute event in Washington, DC, May 22, 2025.

Turkey, Iraq leaders tout cooperation in Ankara, but major disputes persist

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (front-R) and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (front-L) clap after sponsoring the signing ceremony of memoranda of understanding between Iraq and Turkey, in Ankara on May 8, 2025.

Exclusive

Turkey stops electricity sales to Iraq after Baghdad fails to settle $70M+ bill

Demonstrators gather outside the thermal power station in Nasiriyah in Iraq's southern Dhi Qar province to demand the construction of a new station for their region, to allow the province to deal with the chronic power cuts and palliate electricity outage that weight on the daily life, on Sept. 4, 2024.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Pentagon Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Andrew Parasiliti

President and Chief Content Officer

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security

Suadad al-Salhy

In Baghdad, reporting on politics and security

Lyse Mauvais

In Amman, reporting on humanitarian crises

Pope Francis is welcomed at Presidential Palace on Feb. 4, 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Middle East churches, Al-Azhar, leaders mourn Pope Francis

Pope Francis was praised by several regional leaders and churches, including Lebanon's Maronite Church and Iraqi officials, who noted his historic visit to Iraq in 2021.

oil field

After steep fall, oil prices slightly recover following Trump tariff pause

Over the last week, oil prices have plummeted amid the escalating trade war between the United States and China.

A picture taken on Oct. 17, 2017, shows excess flammable gasses burning from gas flares at the Havana oil field, west of the multiethnic northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

Exclusive

Iraq seeks more compensation from Turkey, 'blocks' reopening of Kurds' oil pipeline

Disputes over oil revenues and arbitration claims have kept the Kurdish pipeline closed.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

AFP via Getty Images

One Turkish soldier, 17 PKK militants killed in northern Iraq clashes

The killing of the Turkish soldier comes ahead of militant leader Abdullah Ocalan’s expected call to disarm the Kurdistan Workers Party.

Ocalan

Iraqi Kurds lend hand as PKK leader negotiates plan for peace with Turkey

Abdullah Ocalan is expected to urge his men to lay down their arms and end a more than 40-year insurgency against the Turkish state, capping talks launched in April last year between the rebel leader, PKK commanders and the Turkish government.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) speaks during a joint press conference with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R), Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 22, 2023.

Turkey, Jordan, Iraq to hold first anti-ISIS summit this month: Turkish official

Top diplomats as well as Turkish, Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi defense and intelligence chiefs aim to hold a first security summit this month as part of efforts to set up a regional anti-ISIS coalition, Al-Monitor has learned.

Iraqi Muslim girls, who traditionally begin wearing the hijaba head covering worn in publicat the mandatory age of nine, take part in a ceremony organized at a stadium in Basra on December 19, 2024. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP) (Photo by HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq passes law that could legalize child marriage: What to know

The controversial amendments were passed alongside laws on land disputes and amnesty for some crimes.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Kurdish leader Barzani, SDF's Kobane meet to seek common ground in Syria

The pair aim to bridge decades-old Kurdish divisions as shifting alliances reshape regional politics.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Kobane waves after giving a press conference in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakeh on Dec. 6, 2024.

Exclusive

Iraqi Kurdish leader Barzani to meet Syria SDF commander Kobane in historic step

Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani will meet SDF commander Mazlum Kobane in a major step toward easing regional tensions and advancing US-backed reconciliation efforts.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran on Jan. 8, 2024.

Khamenei pushes for US withdrawal from Iraq in meeting with Sudani

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s trip to Tehran is his first since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and comes ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

US army soldiers queue to board a plane to begin their journey home out of Iraq from the Ain al-Asad Air Base west of the capital, Baghdad, on Nov. 1, 2011.

Exclusive

Syria's new Islamist rulers reduce Iraq's appetite for US troop withdrawal

Iraq's prime minister is heading to Iran to discuss concerns about Syria's new rulers, as Baghdad is considering the delay of the US troop withdrawal to address regional instability.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

A Syrian rebel fighter fires rounds as people celebrate near the New Clock Tower in the central city of Homs on Dec. 8, 2024.

Analysis

Middle East turns 2024 page with new Syria order, Israel's multi-front war

Hamas and Hezbollah experienced major losses at the hands of Israel in 2024, while the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria sent shockwaves throughout the region.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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