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Iraq

August 9, 2026

Baghdad 5:24 pm

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a worker inspects an oil field in Iraq

Analysis

How Turkey is deepening energy and economic ties with Iraq as Iran weakens

Turkey and Iraq are accelerating energy, infrastructure and trade cooperation as the Hormuz crisis increases the strategic value of northern export routes.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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.

Latest News

Analysis

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

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) /

Mustafa Salim

By Mustafa Salim

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

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

Protesters demonstrate in front of the Turkish Parliament in Ankara October 2, 2014. The protest was held hours before a debate for MPs to vote on a motion, which would allow the government to authorise cross-border military incursions against Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq, and allow coalition forces to use Turkish territory. The placard (in black) reads, "Occupiers always lose." The shirts read (from L-R), "We are demonstrating against barbarism" and "We are on a hunger strike for the safety of

AKP base divided on Turkey's vote to join coalition

Pro-government commentators have raised questions over Turkey’s participation in a US-led coalition, while the latest polls show Turks are split on what their country's role should be in fighting the Islamic state.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY KHALIL JALIL
Iraqis sit and watch a show during the opening ceremony of the 5th Baghdad International Film Festival (BIFF) in the Iraqi capital on October 6, 2013. AFP PHOTO / SABAH ARAR (Photo credit should read SABAH ARAR/AFP/Getty Images)

Baghdad hopes for better film festival

Iraqi filmgoers are hoping this year’s Baghdad International Film Festival will be an improvement over last year, when low-quality films marred the event.

President of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region Massoud Barzani speaks during a joint news conference with French President Francois Hollande in Arbil September 12, 2014. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS ) - RTR4615L

Erbil, Baghdad strengthen ties in face of Islamic State

As the Islamic State continues its relentless campaign in Iraq and Syria, the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government are realizing the benefits of cooperation and compromise.

Shi'ite volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against militants of the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), carry a picture of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf, August 16, 2014. School is out, but northern Baghdad's classrooms are packed - not with students, but with people who have travelled further than most to escape the Sunni militant onslaught splitting Iraq. REUTERS/Alaa Al

Salafist danger spawns pan-Shiite solidarity

Rising incitement against Shiites by Salafist forces has prompted solidarity among the various sects of Shiite Islam.

Iraqi prime minister criticized for halting strikes on cities

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has come under fire from some rival circles for a decision to halt indiscriminate strikes on cities, which were causing civilian casualties.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks about a photograph as he addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York September 29, 2014. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR487W3

Netanyahu missteps on Hamas, Islamic State comparison

In his UN General Assembly speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared Hamas to the Islamic State, ignoring Israel's ongoing negotiations with Hamas in Cairo.

The "Valley of Peace" cemetery in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, is seen in this general view taken April 1, 2013. REUTERS/Haider Ala (IRAQ - Tags: SOCIETY) FOR BEST QUALITY IMAGE ALSO SEE: GM1E94617CL01 - RTXY4JC

Eid al-Adha: a time for Iraq to remember its war dead

The religious duty of visiting the dead on holidays has a special meaning for Iraqis, as many of them have lost loved ones in successive wars since the 1980s.

US leverages Iran-Iraq-Syria axis against Islamic State

New alignment offers the potential for breakthrough in the battle against extremist groups; the Arab world has a pulse, not an illness.

Villagers scatter wheat seeds on a field during planting season in Falluja, 50km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, November 22, 2007. REUTERS/Mohanned Faisal (IRAQ) - RTX3Y8R

Fighting robs Iraqi farmers of harvest

The Islamic State attacks and defensive military operations have affected the agricultural sector in Iraq's Salahuddin province, where wheat production had been expected to reach 4.5 million tons this year.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addresses a meeting of the United Nations Security Council
at the 69th U.N. General Assembly in New York, September 24, 2014. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR47KZB

Moscow backs fight against IS … to an extent

Russia is expressing cautious solidarity with the United States in fighting the Islamic State, while continuing its unequivocal support of the Syrian government.

Volunteers who joined the Iraqi army to fight against Islamic State (IS) militants march during training in Basra, southeast of Baghdad, September 9, 2014. Picture taken September 9, 2014. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags - CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR45NPC

Security ministries on hold in Iraq

Iraq's parliament has failed to vote on the candidates proposed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi for the posts of interior and defense ministers, letting the country slip down a dangerous path.

Members of the Iranian army pray at a university as they attend for Tehran's Friday prayers, April 10, 2009. Reform minded youth see America as the land of opportunity and would like to see ties with the U.S. restored but conservative minded youth see the U.S. as the enemy and feel that the Islamic Revolution?s goals must be kept alive. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN) - RTXDXUQ

Iranian conservative says the US needs Iran

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Iranian conservative Amir Mohebian discussed why he believes Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is pessimistic about the nuclear negotiations, how US policy in the Middle East has benefited Iran and how the United States is now in a position where it needs Iran to deal with regional issues.