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Iraq

August 7, 2026

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Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani in Damascus, Aug. 3, 2026. IKRPresident/X

Iraqi Kurdish president’s meeting with Syria’s Sharaa signals shift in SDF dynamics

KRG President Nechirvan Barzani’s meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa underscored the Kurdistan Region’s growing role in Syria’s Kurdish politics.

Mourners carry one of the bodies of members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) who were killed earlier in Diyala in central Iraq by US-Saudi strikes, during the funeral in Baghdad on July 29, 2026. The US-Saudi strikes killed at least 20 militants, including Iranians, according to the Hashed al-Shaabi. The US and Saudi Arabia said the strikes were in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities. (Photo by murtadha ridha / AFP via Getty Images) /

Analysis

Renewed Iraq attacks test Zaidi’s push to disarm Iran-backed militias

An attempt by Iraqi government forces to seize weapons belonging to an Iranian-backed faction encountered resistance, raising questions about Prime Minister Ali Zaidi’s pledge to disarm militias by Sept. 30.

Mustafa Salim

By Mustafa Salim

Latest News

Analysis

Iran-linked militias seek to draw Iraq into regional war

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.

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Exclusive

US nears full withdrawal from Iraq as bases in Kurdistan Region face attacks from Iran, proxies

Patriot

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Zaidi cancels Riyadh trip after US-Saudi strikes on Iran-backed militias in Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at a Council of Ministers meeting in Baghdad, July 25, 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 picture of jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan is seen in a PKK mausoleum in Sinjar region, northern Iraq, May 1, 2016. They share little more than an enemy and struggle to communicate on the battlefield, but together two relatively obscure groups have opened up a new front against Islamic State militants in a remote corner of Iraq. The unlikely alliance between the Sinjar Resistance Units, an offshoot of a leftist Kurdish organisation, and Abdulkhaleq al-Jarba, a Arab tribal mili

Will Iraq's Sinjar become new base for PKK?

While the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Kurdistan Democratic Party are competing over Sinjar, the Yazidis dismiss fears of the PKK making it a "second Qandil."

Iraqi students forced to study without textbooks

Iraq's Ministry of Education has failed to provide Iraqi students with their textbooks because of corruption and negligence.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters gather in the town of Hisha after they took control of the area from Islamic State militants, in the northern Raqqa countryside, Syria November 14, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTX2TNGI

Will Trump see eye to eye with Erdogan's plans in Iraq, Syria?

Ankara is hoping to find harmony with the incoming US administration on its fight against the Islamic State.

Veiled women walk past a billboard that carries a verse from Koran urging women to wear a hijab in the northern province of Raqqa March 31, 2014. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has imposed sweeping restrictions on personal freedoms in the northern province of Raqqa. Among the restrictions, Women must wear the niqab, or full face veil, in public or face unspecified punishments "in accordance with sharia", or Islamic law. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT RELIGI

As IS loses power, will group tap women jihadis to fight?

As the Islamic State suffers successive defeats in Iraq’s Mosul and Raqqa in Syria, it's increasingly likely that the women of the organization will shift from their traditional supportive roles to become suicide bombers or fighters on the front lines.

AppleMark

Why many Fallujah residents have yet to return home

The city of Fallujah is not safe enough yet for residents to return, as IS cells are still operating and some are afraid of revenge by the Iraqi forces.

Smoke rises from an Islamic State vehicle near al-Shadadi town, Hasaka countryside Syria February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTX27LEW

What fate awaits Kurds fighting for the Islamic State?

The future seems desolate — and short — for Kurds who joined IS.

Students wait for their classes to start at the Mustansariya University in Baghdad November 14, 2007. REUTERS/Kareem Raheem (IRAQ) - RTXBYX

Iraqi students protest uniforms in universities

Iraqi universities have imposed conservative uniforms on students as a result of a push from Islamic parties, but students are protesting the decision.

Iraqi soldiers pose with the Islamic State flag along a street in the Intisar district of eastern Mosul, Iraq, November 14, 2016, after capturing the same area from this district from the Islamic State on November 3. REUTERS/Air Jalal - RTX2TL72

Should Baathists have role in post-IS Iraq?

Former Baathists, some of whom have collaborated with the Islamic State (IS), are now looking to take on a prominent role in the post-IS recovery.

Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate August 10, 2014. REUTERS/Rodi Said/File Photo - RTX2GIYQ

Why Moscow won't recognize genocide against Yazidis in Iraq

The newly established Yazidi Congress in Russia is the first political platform uniting all Yazidis in their quest to urge Russia to recognize genocide against Yazidis in Sinjar, Iraq.

A farmer lays out harvested corn cobs on the ground to sun dry in Albu Efan village south west of Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad November 5, 2007. REUTERS/Mohanned Faisal (IRAQ) - RTR1VOGU

Iraq considers proposal of agricultural licensing rounds for foreign investors

The Iraqi government is studying a licensing proposal that would allow foreign investment in agriculture to increase revenue from agricultural production.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss transition plans in the White House Oval Office in Washington, U.S., November 10, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2T2V6

Will Trump bring better future for Iraqis?

Many Iraqi officials and citizens have welcomed Donald Trump's presidential victory due to his stances against terrorism and in favor of a secure region.

An Iraqi soldier fires a RPG in Karamah, south of Mosul, Iraq November 10, 2016. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2T169

Thousands of civilians at risk in Mosul crossfire

Civilian casualties are mounting during the Mosul operation, as thousands of people are stuck on the battlefield.