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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

Shiite Muslim pilgrims gather in front of the shrine of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, on Arafah day, referring to a prayer performed by Shiites in Saudi Arabia's Arafat plain on the second day of hajj, on September 11, 2016 in the holy city of Karbala, 80 kilometres south of the capital Baghdad.
Barred from Mecca amid an escalating spat between Tehran and Saudi Arabia, masses of Iranian Shiite faithful have converged on the holy Iraqi city of Karbala for an alternative pilgrimage. The r

Will Iranian pilgrims forsake Mecca for Karbala?

Iran and Saudi Arabia are expanding the conflict over Islamic religious sites as they continue to exploit religion for their political interests.

Alain Le Roy, under-secretary-general for Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations, looks on in a helicopter during his visit at the Golf Hotel, headquarters of Alassane Ouattara, in Abidjan December 27, 2010, where a detachment of UNOCI peacekeepers provides security. An election meant to resolve Ivory Coast's decade-long political crisis has resulted in two rivals claiming the presidency, with incumbent Laurent Gbagbo defying world pressure to hand over to Ouattara. The standoff has killed more than

Veteran French diplomat: EU should play greater role in resolving Syria crisis

French diplomat Alain Le Roy discusses the European Union's "unstable" and "insecure" borders and its greater challenge of resolving the crisis in Syria.

Recovered artifacts are seen at the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad July 15, 2015. The U.S. handed back to Iraq on Wednesday antiquities it said it had seized in a raid on Islamic State fighters in Syria, saying the haul was proof the militants were funding their war by smuggling ancient treasures. The Iraqi relics were captured by U.S. special forces in an operation in May against an Islamic State commander known as Abu Sayyaf. They included ancient cylindrical stamps, pottery, metallic bracelets and ot

Iraq struggles to stop antiquities smuggling

Iraq has managed to recover some smuggled antiquities, but illegal excavations and the theft of ancient artifacts continue.

Yazidi refugee women stand behind a banner as they wait for the arrival of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Special Envoy Angelina Jolie at a Syrian and Iraqi refugee camp in the southern Turkish town of Midyat in Mardin province, Turkey, June 20, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX1HE42

Why Iraq's Yazidis are upset over new film depicting IS massacres

Women who suffered at the hand of the Islamic State are now being subjected to further humiliation, in the opinion of the Yazidi community, which is protesting a film on the topic that they say is inaccurate and misleading.

Why did Iraq's Shiite National Alliance choose new leader?

After longtime disagreements, the Shiite National Alliance elects Ammar al-Hakim, the head of the Islamic Supreme Council, as president of the alliance, to revive and reorganize it.

Iraqi guards stand in front of the Ministry of Defence during a visit from U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, in Baghdad December 9, 2014. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday as the United States expands its presence and touts progress against Islamic State militants four months after starting a campaign of air strikes in Iraq. REUTERS/Mark Wilson/Pool (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4HCSE

Who will replace sacked Iraqi defense minister?

Following the dismissal of Iraq's Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi by the parliament, the Sunni blocs are competing over nominating his successor.

A Turkish army tank drives towards to the border in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 25, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX2MYVZ

Turkey demands role in Mosul battle, but coalition unconvinced

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed Turkey’s keenness to be part of the liberation of the two IS strongholds of Raqqa and Mosul, but continuing differences with Washington and Baghdad make this difficult.

The U.S. families of Iranian dissidents, members of Iran's opposition movement Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) who reside in Camp Liberty in Iraq, look on as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry testifies on agreements over Iran's nuclear programs, before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTX16CNF

What's next for Baghdad-Tehran ties as last MEK members leave Iraq?

In a new regional victory for Iran, the last group of the exiled opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq left neighboring Iraq.

Meet the likely successor of Islamic State’s Baghdadi

After IS spokesman and second-in-command Abu Mohamed al-Adnani was killed in an airstrike last month, there are indications that Bahraini citizen Turki al-Binali may replace him.

Men stand next to a Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) campaign poster for Iraq's parliamentary elections in Sulaimaniya April 28, 2014. Picture taken April 28, 2014. To match IRAQ-ELECTION/KURDS REUTERS/Jacob Russell (IRAQ - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS) - RTR3N0GT

Political accusations fly in Iraq's Kurdistan region

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is witnessing a sharp division that could affect the regional government's ability to address Kurdish issues.

Shi'ite fighters launch artillery toward Islamic State militants in al-Fatha, northeast of Baiji, October 18, 2015. Iraqi forces backed by Shi'ite militia fighters say they have retaken a mountain palace complex of former President Saddam Hussein from Islamic State fighters, as government forces push ahead on a major offensive against the insurgents. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTS4YZX

Rise of Iran-backed militias jeopardizes US aid to Iraq

US law prohibits military assistance unless Baghdad reins in PMU.

Turkish riot police use water cannon to disperse Kurdish demonstrators protesting against the removal of the local mayor from office over suspected links with Kurdish militants, in Diyarbakir, Turkey, September 11, 2016. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTSN88G

Ankara hardening anti-PKK strategy

Turkey's strategy against the Gulen movement has worked so well, Ankara looks to be extending it to eradicate the Kurdistan Workers Party as well.