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Iraq

August 12, 2026

Baghdad 12:30 pm

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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 Kurdish female fighter from the Popular Protection Units (YPG) carries a walkie-talkie as she stands near fellow fighters carrying their weapons and using binoculars in the Kurdish town of Ifrin, in Aleppo's countryside October 14, 2013. Kurds comprise around 10 percent of Syria's 23 million population. They are concentrated in Ifrin and other areas of the northwest, in parts of Damascus and in the northeastern oil producing area of Qamishli, where there has also been intense fighting between Kurds and al

Syrian Kurds Beset by Divisions

Syrian Kurds are resisting efforts by Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani to exert influence over their movement.

Kurdish security forces react after a bomb attack in the city of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, September 29, 2013. Six people were killed on Sunday in a series of explosions outside a security directorate in the capital of Iraq's usually peaceful autonomous Kurdistan region, security and medical sources said. Gunfire could be heard after the blasts in Arbil that wounded a further 36 people, according to the city's health directorate. The vi

KRG Responds to Article On Terrorist Bombing in Erbil

In a letter to the editor, a director in the office of the Kurdistan Regional Government's Representation to the US, Karwan Zebari, responds to Denise Natali's Al-Monitor article "Prison Break, Suicide, Bombing, Rock Iraqi Kurdistan."

Citizen ambassador.jpg

Iraqi Youth Initiative Combats Sectarianism

Citizenship Ambassadors aims to bring together youths from Iraq's various religious and ethnic communities and regional affiliations to combat the escalating sectarian conflict in the country.

A weapons dealer checks AK-47 rifles before selling it to smugglers transferring it to Syria, at his house near the city of Mosul, 390km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, February 16, 2012. The weapons dealers sell a rifle for about $1000. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CONFLICT) - RTR2XY8B

Smugglers Easily Cross Iraq’s Border

Despite the efforts of Iraq and the six countries bordering it, Iraq’s borders are easily navigated by professional smugglers.

Syrian refugees, who fled the violence in Syria, are seen at a school that functions as a shelter for Syrian Kurdish refugees at Qushtapa at the outskirts of the city of Arbil in Iraq's Kurdistan region, August 23, 2013. The number of Syrian children forced to flee their devastated homeland reached 1 million on August 23, 2013, half of all the refugees driven abroad by a conflict that shows no sign of ending, the United Nations said. Another two million Syrian minors are uprooted within their country where

New Iraqi Association Strives To Help Unmarried Women

"Single Women" recently opened its doors in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region to assist unmarried women who have traditionally been neglected by society.

A fan wearing a Ghostface mask from Scream holds an Iraqi flag during Iraq's international friendly soccer match against Syria at Baghdad's Shaab stadium March 26, 2013. Iraq will be allowed to play friendly matches at home again following approval from soccer's world governing body FIFA on Thursday. Iraq were banned from playing all games at home for security reasons after losing a World Cup qualifier 2-0 to Jordan at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Arbil in September 2011. The reprieve does not apply to Worl

Soccer Decision Fuels Sense of Iraqi Victimhood

Given the inextricable relationship between sports and politics in Iraq, a decision by the Gulf states to move the 2013 Gulf Cup of Nations out of Basra has hit a personal note with Iraqi politicians.

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

The Crisis of Moral Decline in Iraqi Society

Following years of violence and despotic rule, Iraqis have lost a sense of moral responsibility toward society, something that must urgently be addressed to provide security and reach lasting solutions.

Iraq's Morgues Overwhelmed By Surge in Terror Attacks

The recent surge in suicide attacks has started overwhelming Iraq’s morgues, even though the country has become experienced in dealing with large numbers of deaths given its numerous wars since 1980.

Iraqi security forces and people stand at the site of a car bomb attack in Basra, 420 km (261 miles) southeast of Baghdad, October 13, 2013. A series of bombs killed at least ten people in mostly Shi'ite Muslim provinces of Iraq on Sunday ahead of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, police and medical sources said. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTX149QD

Iraq Plays Politics with Security As Elections Approach

Iraqi politicians treat security as an electoral matter, while security disintegrates throughout the country.

An Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim boy kisses a poster of the Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the town of Karbala, some 110 km south from the Iraqi capital Baghdad, early February 6, 2004. Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, survived an assassination bid on Thursday when gunmen opened fire on his entourage in the sacred streets of Najaf, a security aide said. The assassination attempt comes days before a team of United Nations electoral experts is due to arrive in the country to assess the feasi

Sistani Issues Fatwa Against Sectarian Violence in Iraq

Amid rising sectarian rhetoric and violence in Iraq, Iraqi Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has issued a fatwa condemning anti-Sunni violence.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani speaks at a news conference following his meeting with Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance and USAID Administrator Ambassador Randall L. Tobias in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad May 25, 2006. REUTERS/Ali Haider/Pool - RTR1DQND

Talabani's Party Stung by Loss In Iraqi Kurdistan Elections

The upcoming meeting of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in January 2014 may be an opportunity to elect new leadership.

A woman grieves at a cemetery in Baghdad's Adhamiya April 2, 2009. REUTERS/Ahmed Malik (IRAQ SOCIETY) - RTXDJ6S

In Iraq, Honor Crimes Spread to Cities

Once common only in rural areas, the practice of murdering women and other Iraqis for what some perceive as immoral acts has made its way into the country’s urban centers.