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Iraq

March 14, 2026

Baghdad 10:37 pm

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CENTCOM: Six killed after US refueling tanker aircraft crashes in Iraq

The KC-135 is the fourth American military aircraft downed since the war against Iran began.

Retired Israeli general and executive director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies Amos Yadlin attends a session at the Manama Dialogue security conference in the Bahraini capital, on Dec. 5, 2020.

Interview

Yadlin: Israel's war goal to weaken Iran, not immediate regime change

Israeli leaders are aware that Washington will decide when the war ends whether or not Israel has achieved its war aims, Yadlin told Al-Monitor.

Commercial vessels are pictured offshore in Dubai on March 11, 2026. AFP via Getty Images

Oil jumps above $100 as energy crisis called worst in history: What to know

The latest spike is the second time in a week that oil prices have climbed above $100 a barrel.

Fighters lift flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed a day earlier in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023.

US warns of kidnapping threat in Iraq as Iran-backed militia hits diplomatic facility

A number of US-related sites have been targeted by Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq, prompting Baghdad to bolster its air defenses.

Latest News

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Baghdad, US turn to Iraqi Kurds for oil exports as Iran war hits supplies

The sun sets behind burning gas flares at the Dora Oil Refinery Complex in Baghdad on Nov. 24, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Why Israel's looking to Kurds to make gains against Iran regime

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters affiliated with PAK train on Jan. 18, 2026, near Erbil, Iraq.

Analysis

CIA, Mossad bolster Iran’s Kurds as US, Israel seek to ignite military revolt

Osama Al Maqdoni / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Which 6 Kurdish groups could join the war in Iran?

A picture from the formation of the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan on Feb. 22, 2026.

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

Kurdish supporters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) celebrate after the closing of ballot boxes during the parliamentary election in Kirkuk, Iraq, May 12, 2018. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed - RC1D42ED63F0

Iraqi population census raises concerns of Kurds

Kurds and Turkmens in Kirkuk are concerned that the Iraqi population census, set to be held in 2020, could be used for political ends.

Netanyahu petrified by possible Trump-Rouhani meeting

Ahead of the Sept. 17 elections, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is terrified that US President Donald Trump will crush his anti-Iran campaign by meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Iraq shuts down US-funded TV station over corruption report

Iraqis are divided over the government's three-month closure of Alhurra’s Baghdad office for a controversial report alleging corruption in religious institutions.

Will PMU form an air force unit?

Iran-backed PMU factions are trying to form a PMU air force unit with Iranian support, but the top PMU leader says no.

Will PMU allow parliament to appoint its leaders?

Some Iraqi parliamentary blocs are working to mandate that parliament appoint the leaders of the Popular Mobilization Units.

Ninevah sheikh and ex-commander warn of ‘IS family camp dangers’

Nearly two years after its liberation from the Islamic State, Ninevah province is still struggling to deal with IS-linked displaced people.

Members of the Iraqi parliament are seen vote on remaining cabinet ministers at the parliament headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq June 24, 2019. Iraqi parliament media office/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY - RC1BDF0579B0

Iraqi opposition parties form shadow government

Some Iraqi political forces are poised to form a shadow government, but other Iraqi groups say the effort is a fool's errand.

Visitors enter the ancient city of Babylon near Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad April 5, 2012. In the ancient city of Babylon, once home to the fabled Hanging Gardens, an extended oil pipeline has churned through the dirt and dug up a conundrum: which takes precedence, preserving Iraq's heritage or developing its oil wealth? The definitive answer will probably be decades coming. But for the moment, oil appears to have the edge. The site of ancient Mesopotamia, said by some to be the birthplace of

Burial of unidentified Iraqi bodies sparks sectarian debate

Iraqi Sunnis accuse the government of trying to cover up Shiite violence against them by burying bodies of displaced persons who haven't been identified.

Members of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) carry their weapons as they shout slogans at their headquarters in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq July 2, 2019. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani - RC1F77CF3350

Will Iran retaliate after recent Israeli attacks?

Israel seems to be provoking Iran by striking the latter's proxies in Iraq and Lebanon. But Tehran is not showing willingness to directly engage in an all-out war with Tel Aviv.

U.S. President Donald Trump stands behind a U.S. Space Command flag with Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary Mark Esper at an event to officially launch the United States Space Command in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., August 29, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RC1E707D9440

Pentagon touts Space Command as boon to Middle East role

The Donald Trump administration's launch of a Pentagon command to defend US space orbiting satellites could give Middle East commanders a boost in protecting their eyes and ears on the battlefield.

Iraqi decision to remove Shabak PMU from Ninevah Plains stirs conflict

A dispute over the presence of Popular Mobilization Units in the Ninevah Plains raises concerns about the recurrence of conflict in the area.

Members of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (MPF) carry the coffin of a fighter, who was killed by an unmanned aircraft close to the Syrian border in Anbar, during his funeral in Najaf, Iraq August 26, 2019. REUTERS/Alaa al-Marjani - RC15DE813700

Israeli strikes raise questions about US presence in Iraq

A suspected Israeli strike against an Iran-backed convoy in Iraq has raised political doubts about the long-term American troop presence there.