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Iraq

December 28, 2025

Baghdad 4:31 pm

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Armoured vehicles of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Forces are deployed outside the US embassy building in Baghdad's Green Zone on June 12, 2025, after an announcement by a US official the previous day that staff levels at the diplomatic mission in Iraq were being reduced over security concerns. Despite reporting progress in earlier rounds of talks between Iran and the United States, tensions have reached a fever pitch this week as Washington moved non-essential staff from bases in the region following US medi

Analysis

After Iraq’s election, what are US priorities for next government?

Washington wants there to be no sanctioned groups in the next Iraqi government, a source told Al-Monitor, as the US and Iran compete for influence.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Syria's security directorate in al-Bukamal seized SAM-7 missiles being prepared for smuggling into Iraq, on Dec. 22, 2025.

Syria seizes anti-aircraft missiles near Iraqi border: What to know

The Syrian government is stepping up efforts to combat arms smuggling, including in relation to Hezbollah, Kurdish-led forces and ISIS.

A worker turns a valve at the Shirawa oil field, where oil was first pumped in Iraq in 1927, outside the northern city of Kirkuk, Jan. 19, 2004.

Analysis

What Turkey wants from Iraq to renew pipeline deal

Ankara is pushing for full control over the pipeline’s Turkish section and a capacity-allocation system, as arbitration battles with Baghdad drag on.

David O'Byrne

By David O'Byrne

Iraqi President Barham Salih meets with UK Prime Minister, Theresa May (unseen), on June 25, 2019, in London, England.

Barham Salih slated to become first Kurd and Iraqi to lead UNHCR

Barham Salih — former Iraqi president of Iraq and widely respected politician in Washington — has been formally nominated to become the next UN high commissioner for refugees.

Latest News

Exclusive

Iraq's Kurds air fury over PM Sudani's stance after attack on gas field

KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (R) and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) meet in Irbil on April 12, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Former PM Kadhimi: Vote shows Iraqis turning toward new leadership

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on Sept. 23, 2022.

Analysis

Iraq’s economic future in limbo as paralysis looms post-election

People drive past election billboards in Baghdad, Oct. 14, 2025.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

Iraq’s next PM? Shatri, Eidani, Kadhimi and others jostle for lead

People walk past electoral campaign posters ahead of Iraq's parliamentary elections in central Baghdad on Nov. 6, 2025.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

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

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

Iraqi mourners carry the coffin of a victim who was killed in a twin suicide bombing in central Baghdad, during a funeral in the holy city of Najaf on January 21, 2021. - A rare twin suicide bombing killed 32 people and wounded 110 at a crowded market in central Baghdad, Iraq's government said, the city's deadliest attack in three years.
The first attacker drew a crowd at the bustling market in the capital's Tayaran Square by claiming to feel sick, then detonated his explosives belt, the interior ministry s

Iraqi PM vows security changes after Baghdad bombing

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi also sacked a number of Iraqi security officials within hours of the attacks.

A picture shows the scene of a twin suicide bombing on a bustling commercial street in the heart of Baghdad on January 21, 2021. - The toll in a twin suicide bombing in an open-air Baghdad market morning topped 20 dead and 40 wounded, an interior ministry official told AFP. The ministry said the first suicide bomber had rushed into the market and claimed to feel sick, so that people would gather around him. He then detonated his explosives. (Photo by Sabah ARAR / AFP) (Photo by SABAH ARAR/AFP via Getty Imag

Dozens killed in Baghdad suicide bombings

It is unclear who was behind the twin attacks in a crowded part of Baghdad. Such incidents are less common in the Iraqi capital than they were in years prior.

Employees of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission Center register voters in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in the Dhi Qar province, on January 12, 2021. - Iraq's early parliamentary elections were promised by the PM for June but according to officials and politicians they are highly unexpected to be held without several month of delay. (Photo by Asaad NIAZI / AFP) (Photo by ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq’s general elections pushed to October

The added time shores up Baghdad’s preparations for a more legitimate election process; but time is running out for protesters who fear the government will ignore their demands.

An Iraqi woman updates her voter registration at the Independent High Electoral Commission Center in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in the Dhi Qar province on January 12, 2021. - Iraq's early parliamentary elections were promised by the PM for June but according to officials and politicians they are highly unexpected to be held without several month of delay. (Photo by Asaad NIAZI / AFP) (Photo by ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqi parties scramble ahead of new October election date

The High Electoral Commission’s need for additional time to update constituents' records requires that the government postpone early elections until October, while political parties publicly oppose the new date and secretly support it.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY MARWAN IBRAHIM
An Iraqi Arab farmer looks at arid agricultural land in the Hawijah district of Kirkuk in northern Iraq on January 29, 2011. A worsening water shortage in Iraq is raising tensions in the multi-ethnic Kirkuk province, where Arab farmers accuse the Kurdistan region of ruining them by closing the valves to a dam in winter. AFP PHOTO/MARWAN IBRAHIM (Photo credit should read MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq approves Paris climate accord in step toward curtailing oil dependence

Iraq faces significant hurdles in transitioning to an economy without oil dependence, and future trends can be expected to exacerbate those challenges.

Iraqi port revenue surges as anti-corruption move bears fruit

Iraq’s key Umm Qasr Port has been positively affected by measures to reduce corruption, leading to a massive revenue increase in 2020 despite fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans for the massive, nearby Faw Port and an electronic system being put in place may also serve to shore up state coffers and reduce those of “outlaw” groups.

US labels deputy head of Iraq’s PMU a terrorist

The United States accused Abu Fadak of involvement in kidnappings and of attempting to align Iraq's security institution's with Iran's foreign policy.

Iran offers to help Iraq reconstruct damaged archaeological masterpiece

Iran has expressed interest in helping repair the Taq Kasra, the remains of a pre-Islamic Persian palace in Iraq with a historically significant archway.

France scores big Iraqi construction project at Turkey's expense

A French company has beaten out a Turkish one for the Mosul airport project; political considerations along with economic concerns seem to have factored into Baghdad's decision.

Families wait for food distribution at the Hasansham camp for internally displaced people in northern Iraq on December 10, 2020. - Rights groups and others -- including the International Organisation for Migration -- are worried about displaced families who stand accused of links to IS, sometimes falsely, and may face violent retribution if sent home. (Photo by FLORENT VERGNES / AFP) (Photo by FLORENT VERGNES/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq makes major progress in closing camps for the displaced

After six years of displacement, Iraq has closed around 62% of its remaining camps for internally displaced persons over the past six months and is planning to close all of them this year.

First doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to hit Iraq by February

Iraq has pushed hard to be among the world’s first countries to receive and distribute the vaccine after committing $170 million to COVAX, a global body to promote the vaccine.

Falih al-Fayadh, Iraq's interior minister candidate arrives at parliament headquarters in the capital Baghdad on October 24, 2018, prior to a vote on the new proposed cabinet. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

US sanctions Iraq's PMU chair Falih al-Fayadh

Fayadh chaired Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units as the forces killed hundreds of unarmed pro-democracy protesters.