Iraq - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Iran cover image

Iraq

August 12, 2026

Baghdad 10:07 am

46°C

The commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Esmail Qaani, speaks during a commemoration ceremony marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of Guards general Qasem Soleimani (on screen) in the capital Tehran on Jan. 3, 2024.

Analysis

What Qaani's Baghdad visit reveals about Iran's post-war dilemma

The Quds Force commander's Baghdad visit is occurring as Iran faced difficult choices in Iraq where the government is moving to bring powerful armed groups under state control after the recent war.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Qaani

IRGC chief Qaani reportedly in Iraq ahead of militia deadline

Esmail Qaani, who heads the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, has been heavily involved in Iran’s relations with Iraqi militias.

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

Latest News

Iraqi Kurdish president’s meeting with Syria’s Sharaa signals shift in SDF dynamics

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani in Damascus, Aug. 3, 2026. IKRPresident/X

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

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 flame rises from a pipeline at Tawke oil field near Dahuk, 400 km (245 miles) north of Baghdad May 9, 2009. Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdish region said on Friday it would start exporting oil next month, but the Oil Ministry in Baghdad cast doubt on the plan, denying it had given them permission to use national pipelines. Picture taken May 9, 2009. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ ENERGY POLITICS) - RTXFDTF

How independent is the Iraqi-Kurdish pipeline to Turkey?

Turkey can be instrumental in brokering a grand bargain on oil policy that affirms Iraqi sovereignty while assuring the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s contribution to export growth.

Iraqi 'Exile' Politicians Build Patronage Networks

Former exiles who are now leading politicans are perceived by many Iraqis as abusing their authority and privileges.

Al-Moussawi Says Iraq Can Be'Bridge' to Syria Solution

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Ali Al-Moussawi, top media adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, discusses the Geneva II Syria conference and Iraqi-Turkish relations.

Iraqi boys are seen through the broken window of a car which was damaged in mortar attack in southwest Baghdad, December 11, 2006. REUTERS/Namir Noor-Eldeen (IRAQ) - RTR1KAON

Iraq's Moral Deficit

Iraqis have the moral and historical responsibility to find an agreed-upon national project, if they want to save their country from collapse.

Where Do Babylonian Jewry's Archives Belong?

The archives of Iraq's Jewish community should be returned to Baghdad and serve as the cornerstone for a historic reconciliation between Babylonian Jewry and their homeland.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad March 24, 2013. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday and will urge Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to make sure Iranian flights over Iraq do not carry arms and fighters to Syria, a U.S. official said. REUTERS/Jason Reed (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTXXVJU

Maliki Seeks to Leverage US-Iran Opening

Security is at the top of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s visit to Washington, but he may also consider a US-Iran rapprochement as a means to strengthen his chances for a third term.

Iraqi political leaders and members of parliament including from (L-R) Iyad Allawi, former prime minister and head of the secular Iraqiya coalition, Iraqi parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, Iraq's President Jalal Talabani, Kurdish President Masoud Barzani, Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Malik and Iraq's Kurdistan region Prime Minister Barham Salih are attend the 13th Conference of Kurdistan Democratic Party in Arbil, 310 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad December 11, 2010. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags:

PUK divided after losses in Kurdistan region parliament

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has fractured following the substantial losses it sustained in September's Iraqi Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javed Zarif (L) speaks during a joint news conference with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari in Baghdad, September 8, 2013. The United States will ignite a fire across the Middle East if it attacks Syria, Zarif said on a visit to Iraq on Sunday, warning Western powers against warmongering. REUTERS/Ahmad Al-Rubaye/Pool (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13CU2

Will Tehran’s Iraq Policy Change Under Rouhani?

Considering Tehran’s increasing openness with the West, will Iranian policy toward Iraq change under its new president?

A man looks at a car on fire at the site of a bomb attack in Baghdad October 7, 2013. Bombs exploded across the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 22 people, police said. Five of the six blasts were in mainly Shi'ite Muslim districts, but there was also an explosion in the predominantly Sunni Muslim neighborhood of Doura. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX142ZK

Maliki to Appeal for US Help In Fighting Terrorism

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will make the case that terrorism in Iraq is directly related to the war in Syria.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (R) welcomes his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Baghdad International Airport, October 15, 2009. REUTERS/Iraqi Government/Handout (IRAQ POLITICS) - RTXPNTX

Erdogan Rebuilds Ties to Iraq

Regional events are catalysts for a rapprochement between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Rafi Essawi (R) meets with Hassan al-Shammari, head of the Iraqi Islamic al Fadila parliamentary bloc, in Baghdad October 1, 2010. REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXSX67

Proposed personal status law will not help Iraqi Jaafaris

A proposed law to protect the personal status of Shiite Jaafaris is redundant and may in fact cause them harm.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) shakes hands with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshiyar Zebari after a news conference in Ankara October 25, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14NP6

Turkey, Iraq Work to Renew Ties

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari’s visit to Ankara last week suggests Turkey is trying to adjust its approach to its neighbors.