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Iraq

July 28, 2026

Baghdad 2:14 am

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Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi speaks during a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (not pictured) at the Pentagon on July 14, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia.

Zaidi to meet Erdogan as Turkey-Iraq ties take off, Kurds feel sidelined

The Iraqi prime minister's visits to Ankara and Riyadh underscore Baghdad's push to deepen regional ties as Turkey seeks closer cooperation on energy and security.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is welcomed to the Saadabad Palace in Tehran by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, July 23, 2026.

Analysis

Zaidi’s test in Tehran

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Iranian Presidential Office / AFP via Getty Images

Iraq deepens Iran ties days after US investment push

The Iraqi premier visited Tehran shortly after his trip to Washington for talks focusing on economic cooperation and plans to develop a cross-border railway network.

Iraq

International oil firms halt production in Iraq’s Kurdistan amid US-Iran escalation

The move follows the deaths of two US service members in an Iranian attack on Jordan.

Latest News

Analysis

What Zaidi's Washington visit means for US investment in Iraq

US President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Prime Minister of Iraq Ali al-Zaidi during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, July 14, 2026.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Chevron, ConocoPhillips advance Iraq's Hormuz alternatives

Hussein FALEH / AFP via Getty Images

Trump hosts Iraqi PM Zaidi as Iran war intensifies

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi meets with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, DC, July 14, 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

A member of Iraq's Special Operations Forces stands guard during the funeral of Hassan Hammadi al-Amiri, a fallen member of the group Kataib Hezbollah.

Iraq slams latest US airstrikes on Kataib Hezbollah sites

Latest strikes put new pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani over the US troop presence in Iraq.

(L-R) Bloomberg Television's journalist Francine Lacqua, Singapore's President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde, Co-chairman of the private equity firm of The Carlyle Group David Rubenstein, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner and World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala attend a session on the closing day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 19,

Analysis

From Davos, all roads lead to the Middle East

At the World Economic Forum, Al-Monitor interviewed regional decision-makers on economics, energy, environment, governance and conflict across the region.

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti

FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images

Iraq, KRG leaders cancel meetings with Iran's FM at Davos over missile row

Tensions between Baghdad and Tehran have flared since the Monday attack, which Tehran claimed targeted an Israeli "spy cell" in the city.

Protesters hold a banner and Kurdish flags during a demonstration outside the United Nations (UN) office, a day after several areas in the city were hit by a missile attack launched by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region early on Jan. 16, 2024.

How Iran chose easy targets in Iraq's Erbil to avoid Israeli reprisal

As the Islamic Republic and its hardcore loyalists chanted in triumph, debates heated up as to whether the attack was meant only for domestic propaganda and flexing about a promised "revenge" that seemed to have been exacted on the wrong, easy target.

SAFIN HAMID/AFP via Getty Images

Who is Peshraw Dizayee, Kurdish-Iraqi businessman killed in Iran's attack?

Iran claimed it targeted “spy bases” belonging to Israel’s spy agency in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, but several civilians were also killed in the strike.

Two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) armed military personnel are monitoring an area while standing guard next to an Iranian Majid anti-aircraft missile system during the Ela Beit Al-Moghaddas (Al-Aqsa Mosque) military rally in Tehran, Iran.

Iran’s IRGC strikes 'spy centers' in Iraq with ballistic missiles

The IRGC also said it struck Syria in response to the recent ISIS attack in Iran.

Iraqi teachers and civil servants protest on Oct. 7, 2015 in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's Kurdistan region.

In Iraq's Kurdistan Region, teacher strikes highlight schooling crisis

The regional government is three months behind on paying its public servants, including teachers, as part of larger budget disagreements with Iraq’s federal government.

Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani meets with commander of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, Maj. Gen. Joseph Votel, on Jan. 9, 2024.

Coalition chief meets Iraqi Kurdistan president as Baghdad agitates against US presence

The Pentagon said it is in dialogue with Iraq’s government over the future of the US troop presence in the country as Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani faces pressure to expel American troops.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

What we know about US strike that killed Iraqi militia leader in Baghdad

The US assassination of a senior Harakat al-Nujaba commander threatened to rekindle opposition to the presence of American troops among factions in Baghdad.

Iraqi-Kurdish peshmerga officers.

US reduces peshmerga funding amid Iraqi Kurdish political tensions

The reduction comes as the KRG has already been struggling financially due to budget disputes with Baghdad, fluctuating oil prices, and the cost of hosting more than a million refugees and IDPs.

A military marching band plays outside during the first provincial council elections in a decade, at a polling station in the central city of Najaf, on December 18, 2023. The vote comes at a time of widespread disillusionment among the country's 43 million inhabitants, with endemic corruption eating away at the oil-rich nation. (Photo by Qassem al-KAABI / AFP) (Photo by QASSEM AL-KAABI/AFP via Getty Images)

2023 in review: Iraq's pro-Iran factions make gains, but so do Sunni groups

December's provincial elections across Iraq saw big gains for the ruling Coordination Framework and for the Sunni minority and Muhammad al-Halbousi list.

Honor guards carry the coffin of Sayyed Razi Mousavi.

Funeral held for Iran's IRGC commander killed by Israel as Tehran vows revenge

Iran said Sayyed Razi Mousavi was killed in an Israeli strike in Syria. The death of the commander, who was mourned in Syria and Iraq, could ignite war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah.