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Iraq

August 8, 2026

Baghdad 8:46 pm

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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 grave of an Iraqi soldier is seen at a cemetery in Kerbala, southwest of Baghdad, September 30, 2014. With the tide of deaths registered in Kerbala and elsewhere showing no sign of abating, some Shi'ites are starting to complain out loud that the government and army command are incompetent at best, culpable at worst, and covering up the true of extent of battlefield losses. Picture taken September 30, 2014. REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR4995D

Iraq's growing grave market

As death has become even more a part of daily life in Iraq with the increasing violence and terrorist attacks, people started marketing plots at Al-Salam Valley cemetery, which holds religious significance.

US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz (L) and US Secretary of State John Kerry wait for the start of a trilateral meeting at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne March 28, 2015. The foreign ministers of France and Germany joined the top U.S. and Iranian diplomats on Saturday to help break an impasse in nuclear negotiations as major powers and Iran closed in on a 2- or 3-page accord that could form the basis of a long-term deal. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool - RTR4V9Q6

Capitol Hill counts down days until Iran nuclear deadline

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of June 1.

Displaced Sunni women fleeing the violence in Ramadi, carry bags as they walk on the outskirts of Baghdad, May 24, 2015. Iraqi forces recaptured territory from advancing Islamic State militants near the recently-fallen city of Ramadi on Sunday, while in Syria the government said the Islamists had killed hundreds of people since capturing the town of Palmyra. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX1ED8I

Baghdad stumbles in response to Ramadi refugees

180,000 Iraqis now displaced by the Islamic State from Ramadi; Islamic State benefits from Saudi military intervention in Yemen; Jabhat al-Nusra’s attempted makeover.

A member of al Qaeda's Nusra Front burn a Syrian national flag in the town of the northwestern city of Ariha, after a coalition of insurgent groups seized the area in Idlib province May 29, 2015. The Syrian army has pulled back from the northwestern city of Ariha after a coalition of insurgent groups seized the last city in Idlib province in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border that was still held by the government. A coalition of rebel groups called Jaish al Fateh, or Conquest Army, said it had taken

Al-Qaeda theorist calls for infiltrating political systems

Abdullah bin Mohammed, an al-Qaeda theorist, believes jihadists need to adopt a new strategy of attaining legitimacy by rebranding themselves and working from within political systems, an idea that might already have taken root in Syria.

Displaced Sunni people, who fled the violence in the city of Ramadi, arrive at the outskirts of Baghdad, May 19, 2015. Iraqi security forces on Tuesday deployed tanks and artillery around Ramadi to confront Islamic State fighters who have captured the city in a major defeat for the Baghdad government and its Western backers. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX1DOSG

Ramadi's displaced find restrictions, not refuge, in Baghdad

The exodus of displaced people fleeing Iraq's Anbar province after the Islamic State imposed its control there should be an opportunity for the Iraqi government to unify efforts of all sects in the face of terrorism.

Iraqi gravekeeper Ali Mansur points to the tomb of Gertrude Bell in Iraq April 30, 2006. Bell, an "oriental secretary" to British governments, was credited with drawing the boundaries of modern Iraq out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War One. Bell, also a British traveller, writer and linguist, was one of the most powerful women of the 1920s, an adviser to empire builders and confidante to kings. She died in Baghdad in 1926 and rests in a forgotten cemetery in the capital. Picture t

Reassessing consequences of occupation in Iraq

According to interviews conducted by Al-Monitor, the British and US occupations of Iraq might, arguably, have positive repercussions on the country.

Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani (R) addresses the media during a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Arbil, April 6, 2015. Abadi said the Baghdad government would work with Kurdish authorities to liberate the northern province of Nineveh from Islamic State militants. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RTR4W8W5

Fate of Kurdish presidency divides Iraqi Kurds

As the term of Kurdish President Massoud Barzani is drawing to an end and as the transfer of power is still unknown, some political parties are suggesting a new parliamentary system whereby Barzani would have a mere ceremonial role.

U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey (L) speaks during news conference with Iraq's Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi in Baghdad March 9, 2015. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4SM9Z

Congress debates greater US role in Iraq

Lawmakers are putting pressure on President Barack Obama to rethink Islamic State strategy after fall of Ramadi.

Pallbearers carry the remains of Iranian soldiers during a ceremony at the Iraq-Iran Shalamcha Border Crossing, in southern Iraq November 30, 2008. Iraq returned to neighbouring Iran the remains of 41 Iranian soldiers killed during the 1980's Iraq-Iran war in exchange for the remains of Iraqi soldiers on Sunday, Iraqi officials said. REUTERS/Atef Hassan (IRAQ) - RTR2245W

Return of 175 Iranian bodies from Iraq stirs painful memories

Iranians shared pictures of Iranian divers from the Iran-Iraq War after Iranian officials reported that the bodies of 175 divers who were reportedly buried alive in the war were returned to Iran.

A member of the Iraq security forces looks at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad May 9, 2015. The attack killed seven civilians and wounded 14 others, police and medical sources said. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX1C8E9

Baghdadis live with constant threat of violence

Amid ravaging terror and repeated security breaches, civilians in Iraq do not feel safe as a customary trip to the coffee shop could cost their lives.

U.S. and Jordanian soldiers participate in Exercise Eager Lion at the Jordan-Saudi Arabia border, south of Amman May 18, 2015. Around 10,000 participants from 18 countries will take part in Eager Lion. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTX1DI9O

Defense spending bill provides boost to Jordan

House Defense appropriators released a FY 2016 bill that seeks to help Jordan fight the Islamic State.

Iraqi Shi'ite youths use computers at an internet cafe in Sadr City in Baghdad May 3, 2014. Iraq is now gripped by its worst violence since the heights of its 2005-2008 sectarian war, and Sunni Islamist insurgents who target Shi'ites have been regaining ground in the country over the past year. But despite the instability, daily life continues in poor Shi'ite neighbourhoods of Baghdad such as Al-Fdhiliya and Sadr City - a sprawling slum marred by poor infrastructure and overcrowding. Picture taken May 3, 20

Iraqis use social media to pressure government

Iraqis are making sure social networking sites can be used to mobilize the public and express opinions against political events and decisions.