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Iraq

August 10, 2026

Baghdad 2:11 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

A member of Iraqi security forces looks on during the digging operations to build a trench on the northern Iraqi border with Syria to prevent people from crossing over into Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on April 13, 2014 in Zakho. AFP PHOTO/SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)

KRG trench divides Syrian, Iraqi Kurds

The ditch dug by the Kurdistan Regional Government at Rojava, separating Syrian and Iraqi Kurds, adds another layer of complexity to the regional conflict.

Iraqi Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq (L) and Iraqiya Sunni speaker of parliament Osama al-Nujaifi hold a news conference for the seniors of Iraqiya bloc in Baghdad January 18, 2012. REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2WGNT

Electoral race heats up among Iraq's Sunni factions

While the Iraqi parliamentary elections scheduled for the end of this month approach, competition is fierce among Sunni blocs.

A man looks at an election campaign poster of Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Hussain al-Shahristani in Baghdad April 3, 2014. Iraq's parliamentary election is scheduled for April 30. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3JUTM

Iraqi elections: all talk, no walk

Many political blocs have dismissed the Iraqi voter as unable to analyze complex and detailed political programs.

Baghdad, IRAQ: Iraqi tribal men march behind a poster of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani during a demosntration in the holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, 26 February 2006. Sistani called for Iraq's powerful tribes to be deployed to protect the country's holy places after three attacks on Shiite shrines in four days, his office said. "Ayatollah Sistani, who received a tribal delegation from Kufa, asked that the Iraqi tribes reclaim their role of protecting the shrines," said an official in Sistani's offic

Sistani calls on Iraqi voters to 'choose wisely'

Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has called on the Iraqi people to "choose wisely" in the coming elections, holding Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responsible for problems in Iraq and opposing a third term for him.

Photographer Mohamed Turjuman shows what he says are pictures that he took of Imam Musa al-Sadr, at his studio in Tyre, southern Lebanon, February 23, 2011. Sadr, the founder of the Shi'ite Amal movement, disappeared with his two companions on a visit to Libya in 1978. The uprising against Muammar Gaddafi has given Sadr's family hope that they may finally find out what happened to him if the Libyan leader is toppled, Rabab al-Sadr told Reuters on February 24, 2011. Picture taken February 23, 2011. REUTERS/

Lebanon's Shiite seminaries split between tradition, modernity

Although most Shiite seminaries in Lebanon still follow a traditional curriculum, a number of schools have begun to revise and develop their educational approaches.

Iraqi secular Sunni politician Mithal al-Alusi speaks during an election campaign rally ahead of March 7 parliamentary elections in Baghdad February 27, 2010. REUTERS/Saad Shalash (IRAQ - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS) - RTR2AZUB

Iraqi secularists under attack ahead of elections

A religious leader with ties to the Islamic Dawa Party has issued a fatwa banning citizens from voting for secular candidates, as religious currents increasingly claim secular movements are tainted by links to the old regime of Saddam Hussein.

Police officers search a vehicle at a checkpoint, as security increases after a bomb attack, at Abu Ghraib district, west of Baghdad, January 9, 2014. A suicide bomber killed 13 Iraqi army recruits and wounded more than 30 in Baghdad on Thursday, police said, in an attack on men responding to a government appeal for volunteers to help fight al Qaeda-linked militants in Anbar province. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY) - RTX177MB

Maliki's use of SWAT forces questioned

In mid-March, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki criticized police manning checkpoints for delaying traffic, leading to the arrest of some officers by members of the SWAT forces.

A man walks past an election campaign poster of Mohammed Abed Al-Kazem Aqeeli (C) of Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law coalition in Baghdad April 3, 2014. Iraq's parliamentary election is scheduled for later this month. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3JUU1

Iraqi government submits controversial emergency powers bill

The bill would give near-absolute powers to Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and is filled with loopholes and vague language.

Ammar al-Hakim (C), leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, speaks to his supporters during a ceremony held to announce his election platform, in Baghdad April 5, 2014. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION ELECTIONS) - RTR3K2VC

Hakim launches 'Citizen Coalition' in Iraqi elections

In the lead-up to the April 30 Iraqi elections, Ammar al-Hakim’s Citizen Coalition has sought to ensure comprehensive reform and released a serious and thorough electoral program.

NAJAF, IRAQ: An Iraqi Shiite scholar (2nd L) lectures a student while another one (R) reviews his lesson at a religious school for clerics, known in Arabic as Haouza, in the holy city of Najaf, 160 kms (100 miles) south of Baghdad, 05 August 2006. The teaching method at the clerical school in Najaf has not radically changed since its establishment in 1056 AD, with the exception of adding natural sciences subjects to the curriculum. AFP PHOTO/ALI AL-SAADI (Photo credit should read ALI AL-SAADI/AFP/Getty I

Najaf's Shiite seminaries enter 21st century

Throughout its history, the Shiite seminaries in Najaf, Iraq, have witnessed massive changes in curricula, with an expansion in the number and scope of subjects offered.

An Iraqi man walks past an electoral campaign poster along a street in the capital Baghdad on April 3, 2014. Campaigning for Iraq's April 30 general election opened, with Maliki bidding for a third term as his government grapples with the country's worst bloodshed in years. AFP PHOTO/ALI AL-SAADI (Photo credit should read ALI AL-SAADI/AFP/Getty Images)

Divisive sectarian rhetoric dominates lead-up to Iraq vote

As elections approach in Iraq, sectarian rhetoric has distracted voters from more serious issues.

Iraqi security forces personnel are seen during clashes with the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Babel province south of Baghdad, April 2, 2014. Four members of the ISIL and one member of Iraqi security forces were killed during clashes, according to an Iraqi Army officer. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR3JPFM

ISIS expands in areas around Baghdad

Witnesses report that the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has been entering cities surrounding Baghdad, raising al-Qaeda flags and leaving before the arrival of security forces.