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Iraq

December 30, 2025

Baghdad 3:46 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

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

Iraqi series produced by Saudi Arabia sparks controversy

Some TV programs on Saudi-funded channels have sparked controversy among Iraqis.

In shadow of COVID-19, US-led battle against Islamic State continues

A Pentagon report declares the Islamic State a "low-level insurgency" as the United States and Iraq prepare for strategic dialogue.

A female Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighter adjusts her scarf while another carries a picture of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan at their base in Sinjar March 11, 2015. Women fighters at a PKK base on Mount Sinjar in northwest Iraq, just like their male counterparts, have to be ready for action at any time. Smoke from the front line, marking their battle against Islamic State, which launched an assault on northern Iraq last summer, is visible from the base. Many of the women have cut links

PKK attacks Turkish military base in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

The attack comes amid intra-Kurdish tensions in Iraq over the PKK's and Turkey's presence in the country.

A fire and smoke rises from a wheat field on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq June 15, 2019. Picture taken June 15, 2019. REUTERS/Abdullah Rashid - RC1C2370E800

Islamic State believed behind crop fires in Iraq's disputed territories

The Islamic State is suspected of once again setting fire to farmland in the disputed Iraqi-Kurdish territories.

Kurdish Peshmerga Forces take part in their graduation ceremony at a military camp in Erbil, Iraq, August 21, 2019. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RC1EEC7735A0

Intel: Iraq’s Peshmerga Ministry pushes for joint security talks with Baghdad

The Peshmerga Ministry of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region said it will send a delegation to Baghdad to discuss security cooperation and the situation in the disputed territories.

Press freedom watchdog criticizes suspension of Kurdish reporter in northeast Syria

Rudaw's Vivian Fatah was suspended because she did not describe Kurdish fighters who had been killed in Syria as martyrs.

Iraqi-Syrian desert border area key amid geopolitical tensions

Recent security incidents indicate that the Islamic State continues to operate in the Iraqi-Syrian border area despite reduced capabilities.

Iraqi Kurdish officers and policemen stand at the gate of the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran, that partially reopened for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the border between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan in Halabja Province, Iraq May 3, 2020. REUTERS/Saman Mahmood - RC24HG9M4JY9

Iraq reopens 2 border crossings to help boost battered Iranian economy

Two of five Iranian-Iraqi border crossings reopen for both goods and individuals, to the benefit of Iran's sanctions- and coronavirus-hit economy, and of Iraqis in the south and in the KRG-run north.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - MAY 06: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY √¢ MANDATORY CREDIT - "IRAQI PARLIAMENT/ HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Iraqi PM-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi who is at the parliament for vote of confidence in Baghdad, Iraq makes a speech on May 06, 2020. Only 15 out of 22 ministers from cabinet of Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi receive vote of confidence from Iraq√¢s parliament. (Photo by Iraqi Parliament / Handout/Anadolu Agency via

Intel: Trump congratulates Iraq’s new Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi

President Donald Trump has congratulated Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on his confirmation by Iraq’s Council of Representatives.

Mourners carry the coffin of an Iraqi demonstrator, who was killed during ongoing anti-government protests in Basra, Iraq May 11, 2020. REUTERS/Stringer - RC2DMG92E3JK

Iraq arrests pro-Iran militiamen accused of killing protester

Iraq's new prime minister, Mustafa Kadhimi, ordered the raid after protests resumed in the southern province of Basra.

Iraqi Security forces target armed groups that attacked protesters

Iraq's new government is taking a series of decisions to rein in Iran-backed militias.

Members of the new cabinet of the Kurdistan parliament headed by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani pose for a family photo, in Erbil, Iraq July 10, 2019. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RC1B64599A60

Decentralization push sparks fears of division in Iraqi Kurdistan

Sulaimaniyah’s pursuit of enhanced self-governance has stoked concerns over the Iraqi Kurds’ hard-won unity as economic woes strain their autonomous region.