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Iraq

December 30, 2025

Baghdad 7:30 am

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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

Latest News

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

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

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

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

Frustration builds as Iraq's airports remain closed amid rising virus cases

Many foreigners and Iraqis are unable to return home, including those who have lost jobs amid the pandemic.

Sunni figures in exile return to Iraq as part of national reconciliation

Rafi Isawi has returned to Iraq to face trial for accusations related to terrorism; other Sunni figures with similar cases have expressed readiness to return to Iraq.

General Electric helps increase electricity generation in Iraq

Power stations that General Electric helped develop and improved exploitation of natural gas boost Iraq's energy infrastructure as the country seeks alternatives to imported energy from Iran.

Iraq summons Turkey, Iran as operations against Kurdish groups continue

Turkey cites past agreements for its operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party in Iraq, while Iran is also targeting Kurdish groups in the country.

Iraqi Yazidis take part in a religious ceremony at the Temple of Lalish, in a valley near the Kurdish city of Dohuk, about 430km northwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, on October 10, 2019. - Of the 550,000 Yazidis in Iraq before the Islamic State (IS) group invaded their region in 2014, around 100,000 have emigrated abroad and 360,000 remain internally displaced. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Yazidis still negotiating return of kidnapped women, children

In the absence of local and international authorities, the Yazidis continue buying back their kidnapped women and children.

Demonstrators gesture as they take part in the ongoing anti-government protests after newly-appointed Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi called for the release of all detained protesters, at Jumhuriya bridge in Baghdad, Iraq May 10, 2020. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily - RC2NLG9KIXGL

Iraqi protesters set sights on local governors

Protesters in Iraq are demanding that provincial governors be sacked and the killers of demonstrators be found and prosecuted.

Rockets hit Baghdad's Green Zone again

A series of such attacks is happening as the United States and Iraq discuss the future of the US military presence in the country.

UAE condemns Turkish and Iranian military interventions in Iraq

Turkey and Iran are conducting operations against Kurdish groups in the country.

United Arab Emirates

A member of Turkish police special forces stands guard in Azaz, Syria January 24, 2018. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC1CA41F7370

Turkey hammers Kurdish rebel targets in Iraq

Turkey has sent in special forces to fight the Kurdistan Workers Party in Iraq’s north, putting its soldiers on the ground in the third foreign country this year.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks the press at the State Department in Washington, DC, on May 20, 2020. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM / POOL / AFP) (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: Pompeo speaks with Iraq’s new foreign minister

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with Iraq’s new Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein by phone on Tuesday.

Iraq's plans to cut salaries face strong backlash

The Iraqi government's decision to reduce government employees’ salaries has caused a major uproar among the political forces.

The flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) flies in front of its headquarters during a board of governors meeting in Vienna November 28, 2013. Iran has invited U.N. inspectors to visit a nuclear-related heavy water facility on December 8, their chief said on Thursday, a first concrete step under a plan to clarify concerns about Tehran's disputed nuclear programme. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader (AUSTRIA - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - BM2E9BS0WUX01

Intel: European countries set to rebuke Iran at UN nuclear agency

Iran is facing a formal rebuke by the United Kingdom, France and Germany at the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency for refusing to cooperate with the agency’s inspection of two sites believed to have housed nuclear research in the past.