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Iraq

August 7, 2026

Baghdad 5:53 am

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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

An Iraqi homeless person sleeps inside a street tunnel in central Baghdad, 14 November 2007. A roadside bomb attack targeting a US patrol near Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone killed today two Iraqi civilians and wounded three, security officials said. AFP PHOTO/SABAH ARAR (Photo credit should read SABAH ARAR/AFP/Getty Images)

Terror groups exploit Iraqi homeless

As the country's economic and security crises drag on, unemployed young Iraqis are finding themselves on the streets and vulnerable to militant groups that use them to gather information and even commit acts of terror.

Smoke rises from the site of a bomb attack in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region, April 17, 2015. A car bomb exploded on a road outside the U.S. Consulate and compound in Erbil on Friday, a Reuters witness said. The consulate houses U.S. diplomats and staff but there was no immediate reports of casualties. Gunfire was heard immediately after the blast but stopped later, the witness said. REUTERS/Stringer - RTR4XRWU

How Iraqi Kurdistan plans to reform education to fight extremism

The Kurdistan Regional Government aims to reform the religious curriculum, but some claim that these efforts will fail because extremists still have influence on the reform process.

An Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighter looks through binoculars on the top of Mount Zardak, about 25 kilometres east of Mosul, on October 6, 2016.
Mosul, Iraq's second city, was seized by the Islamic State (IS) group in 2014 after multiple Iraqi divisions collapsed in the face of a jihadist assault.
But Baghdad is now planning, with help from a US-led coalition, a major operation to retake the city, which had a population of two million before the IS invasion. / AFP / SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should r

Turkey's brash behavior riles Iraq

Iraq worries that Turkey, emboldened by the progress of its Operation Euphrates Shield intervention in northern Syria, might be planning an "Operation Tigris Shield" for Mosul.

Iraqi Shi'ite radical leader Muqtada al-Sadr delivers a sermon to worshippers during Friday prayers at the Kufa mosque near Najaf, Iraq September 23, 2016. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani - RTSP3DV

Sadrist call to change electoral law could push local elections to 2018

Though all of Iraq's parliamentary blocs acknowledge a need to amend the electoral law, there is less agreement on what direction changes should take and no plans to make it happen.

Iraqi Marsh Arab women paddle their boats at the Chebayesh marsh in Nassiriya, 300 km (185 miles) southeast of Baghdad, February 15, 2013. The Marsh Arabs who had farmed this area for thousands of years, were badly affected by a campaign mounted by the government of Saddam Hussein in the 1990s to destroy their lifestyle. The marshes were drained of water, and hundreds of thousands of Marsh Arabs were forced to flee to cities, where they live in poverty, the locals in this area said. Picture taken February 1

Can Iraq reach dam agreement with Turkey to protect marshes?

Recent Turkish dam projects, in particular the Ilisu Dam, affect the level of water in Iraq significantly with the marshes drying and the agricultural industry witnessing a significant decline.

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 09: Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) gather for a #RefugeesWelcome Dinner on December 9, 2015 in Washington DC. (Photo by Larry French/Getty Images MoveOn.org)

Capitol Hill raises alarm on coming Mosul onslaught

Congress’ human rights panel urged the Obama administration to make Iraqi civilians a priority.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan with his wife Emine arrives at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington March 29, 2016 for the Nuclear Security Summit. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas - RTSCR2H

Ankara’s policies in Iraq, Syria perplex US

Turkey's approach to the Aleppo and Mosul issues complicates its relations with the United States.

A member of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces guards a security point on Bashiqa mountain, overlooking Islamic State held territories of Mosul, 12 km northeast of Mosul City, March 7, 2015. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR4SF1D

Iraqi Kurds step into Ankara-Baghdad row

Iraq has called on the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from its soil.

Iraq’s parliament speaker outlines post-IS plan

As Mosul battle looms, Iraqi parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri speaks to Al-Monitor about the current political situation in the country and discusses what the future might hold for Sunni-majority provinces.

Iraqi soldiers fire a rocket toward Islamic State militants on the outskirts of the Makhmour south of Mosul, Iraq, March 25, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkaril/File Photo - RTSIUAB

Turkey-Iraq squabbles threaten Mosul campaign

The dispute between Turkey and Iraq over the presence of Turkish troops near Mosul is threatening to derail the impending offensive to free the city from the Islamic State.

Why calls for independence are in decline in Iraqi Kurdistan

The economic crisis in Iraqi Kurdistan has decreased independence ambitions significantly, while the social and political demands to turn toward Baghdad are increasing in the region.

Iraqi Sunni Muslim fighters from Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) take part in a parade during a ceremony marking the Iraqi Police Day at Amiriyat al-Fallujah in Anbar province, January 9, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani - RTX21NHG

Will PMU attack US troops in Iraq?

Factions of the Popular Mobilization Units are threatening to target US troops taking part in the battle for Mosul, but the Iraqi government is working to smooth over tensions.