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Iraq

December 29, 2025

Baghdad 12:04 am

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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

Iraqi President Barham Salih meets with UK Prime Minister, Theresa May (unseen), on June 25, 2019, in London, England.

Barham Salih slated to become first Kurd and Iraqi to lead UNHCR

Barham Salih — former Iraqi president of Iraq and widely respected politician in Washington — has been formally nominated to become the next UN high commissioner for refugees.

Latest News

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

Analysis

Iraq’s next PM? Shatri, Eidani, Kadhimi and others jostle for lead

People walk past electoral campaign posters ahead of Iraq's parliamentary elections in central Baghdad on Nov. 6, 2025.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

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

Jordan's King Abdullah II (R) escorts Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani (L) along with other dignitaries at the start of the "Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership" in Sweimeh by the Dead Sea shore in central-west Jordan on December 20, 2022. (Photo by KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images)

Trilateral Biden-Abdullah-Sudani call reiterated support for Iraq

The Iraqi prime minister also discussed Iraq’s economic situation with the president as the dinar continues to slide against the dollar. Jordan's King Abdullah II was also on the call.

Turkish tanks are positioned in the Turkish military base in Bashiqa, several kilometers outside of Mosul, Iraq.

Pro-Iran group claims attack on Turkey's base in northern Iraq

The so-called Bashiqa base, which has long been a source of tension between Ankara and Baghdad, is a frequent target of rocket attacks by pro-Iranian groups in Iraq.

Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy Abdulaziz bin Salman looks on during a press conference after the 45th Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee and the 33rd OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting in Vienna, Austria, on October 5, 2022. (Photo by VLADIMIR SIMICEK/AFP via Getty Images)

OPEC+ likely to maintain oil output at meeting, in gesture to US

While the OPEC+ group is expected to maintain oil production at its virtual meeting set for Feb. 1, global demand for oil is estimated to reach a record high in 2023.

Middle East corruption rankings: Syria most corrupt, UAE least, Turkey slipped

Corruption remains rampant across the Middle East and North Africa, Transparency International reports, with the region’s average score in combating corruption hitting a new low of 38.

BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images

Strikes near Iraqi border mark widening regional battle against Iran

Strikes widely attributed to Israel have hit an Iranian convoy near the Iraqi border after it crossed out of the country.

Baghdad dinar protest

Protests in Iraq amid local currency devaluation, Central Bank changes

Restrictions from the US Federal Reserve, corruption, and Iraq’s lack of an electronic banking system have all led to the dinar’s recent fall in value against the dollar.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and the German chancellor (not in picture) give a joint press conference at the Chancellery, Berlin, Germany, Jan. 13, 2023.

Explainer: What is behind Iraq's Central Bank shuffle and what is next?

The economic crisis in Iraq as a result of the ongoing rise in the value of the US dollar against the dinar resulted in the prime minister sacking the heads of the Central Bank of Iraq and the Trade Bank of Iraq.

HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images

Iraq's soccer team celebrates with militia leaders after Gulf Cup victory

The team held up a photo of militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was killed by a US drone strike in 2020.

A man and a woman hold up a banner depicting the image of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iranian authorities, during a demonstration denouncing her death by Iraqi and Iranian Kurds outside the UN offices in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on September 24, 2022. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Fleeing repression, Iran's Kurdish activists struggle to find refuge in Iraq

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has become a key escape route for an unknown number of Iranian Kurds fleeing brutal repression and torture in Iran, but most fail to find security and stability in Iraq.

Iraq dinar

Iraq's government struggles to control US dollar price

The Iraqi economy is suffering from the US dollar's rise as a result of smuggling dollars outside of Iraq.

ESSAM AL-SUDANI/AFP via Getty Images

In restive Iran-Iraq border area, support for firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr holds strong

Al-Monitor traveled to Iraq’s impoverished southeast, known for drug smuggling and militia violence, to explore the continued support there for the Sadr movement.

A picture shows the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected Islamic State (IS) group fighters in the northeastern Hasakeh governorate, during a security operation by the Kurdish Asayish security forces and the special forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces, on Aug. 26, 2022.

Iraq repatriates 580 citizens from Syria’s al-Hol camp

The Islamic State sees the tens of thousands of detainees at al-Hol and other prison facilities in Syria as key to rebuilding its army, US officials have said.