Iraq - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent since 2012

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Iraq

March 31, 2026

Baghdad 11:11 pm

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An undated image of Shelly Kittleson.

AL-MONITOR calls for release of contributor Shelly Kittleson

An undated image of Shelly Kittleson.

Breaking | Last Updated: March 31, 2026, 2:45 pm

American journalist Shelly Kittleson abducted in Iraq

Local authorities are searching for Shelly Kittleson, who was abducted in Baghdad.

Members of the Popular Mobilization Units stand guard along the Iraqi-Syrian border in Al-Qaim, west of Iraq, on Jan. 23, 2026.

Syria sustains drone attack from Iraq, tackles smuggling tunnels on Lebanon border

The incidents on Syria's borders follow threats against the transitional government by Iran and its proxies in Iraq.

A general view of South Pars gas field facilities in the southern Iranian port town of Assaluyeh, on the Gulf, Nov. 19, 2015.

Analysis

Oil-rich Gulf states could face power crunch as Iran war hits energy security

While the conflict fuels a global oil price shock, the Gulf states must contend with growing threats to their own energy security, from power cuts to desalinated water loss.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Analysis

Energy storage keeps Turkey stable, but long war risks fragile economy

Sedat Suna/Getty Images

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Turkey confirms Iraq troop withdrawal as NATO pulls back due to Iran war

A handing over of command ceremony at Union III Camp in the Green Zone of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on May 22, 2025.

Analysis

Iran's first strike on Iraqi Kurdish forces since war began a warning to US allies

An Iranian Kurdish peshmerga member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran inspects the damage sustained at the Azadi Camp following an Iranian cross-border attack in the town of Koye, east of Erbil district, on March 3, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Exclusive

Iraqi oil flows to Turkey after US pledges role in Baghdad-Kurds customs dispute

A view of the oil refinery on March 17, 2026 in Erbil, Iraq.

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

An employee of the state-run South Oil Company (SOC) walks near a new oil storage tank near the southern city of Basra January 14, 2013. The head of the state-run South Oil Company said the new facility will add a capacity of one million barrels to the existing 5.5 million barrels available. REUTERS/Atef Hassan (IRAQ - Tags: ENERGY) - RTR3CG6E

OPEC Again Excludes Iraq from Oil Quotas

Decades of war and international sanctions have greatly hindered Iraq’s oil production potential, an issue the current government is struggling to address.

An electrician uses an Avometer to check wires connected to his local generator on a street in Baghdad, December 13, 2011. Iraq's financial system is slowly embracing the free market after years of tight control under Saddam; a fledging stock market is attracting foreign money while the banking and telecommunications industries are growing rapidly. But the national grid provides only a few hours of intermittent power a day, forcing Iraqis to live off noisy diesel-fueled generators. Picture taken December 13

Iraq Suffers Power Crisis As Temperatures Soar

Frustration continues to mount in Iraq with the government unable to deliver sufficient electricity despite eight years of promises by officials.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.

A view of Hojjatieh seminary (bottom) and the holy shrine of Hazrat Ma'soumeh (top), the sister of the seventh shi'ite Muslim Imam Reza, in the holy city of Qom, 120 Km (75 miles) south of Tehran, March 9, 2011. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN - Tags: CITYSCAPE RELIGION) - RTR2JNXQ

Shiite Seminaries Divided On Fatwas for Syrian Jihad

While Shiite clergy in Iran and Iraq mostly prefer to stay out of issuing fatwas, a minority is calling for jihad in Syria against salafist groups.

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY OR DEATH

An police officer inspects the site of a bomb attack at a coffee shop in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, July 12, 2013. A bomb attack in a cafe in northern Iraq killed at least 31 people on Friday, police and medics said. The blast took place in the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, in a coffee shop where people had gathered after breaking their fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL U

During Ramadan, Militants Target Baghdad Liquor Stores, Cafes

Since the start of Ramadan, attacks by militants against liquor stores and other shops deemed “morally corrupt” have increased in Baghdad, with some accusing the government of being involved.

A view of al-Firdous square, where the statue of Saddam Hussein used to stand, in Baghdad April 9, 2012. U.S. Marines pulled down the statue of the dictator on April 9, 2003, marking the end of more than 35 years of iron-fisted rule by Saddam's Baath Party. REUTERS/Saad Shalash (IRAQ - Tags: CONFLICT POLITICS) - RTR30ITJ

Iraqi Politics Must Shake Legacy of Dictatorship

Although it has been 10 years since Saddam Hussein was ousted by US forces, Iraqi politics remain mired in the legacy of dictatorship.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets with Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu before attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) security meetings in Bandar Seri Begawan July 2, 2013. REUTERS/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool (BRUNEI - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX119IY

Al-Monitor’s Gursel Wins Award; Watch US House on Syria

Al-Monitor’s coverage of press freedom in Turkey, the US House of Representatives on Syria, and Iraq as possible mediator on Iran; Daoud Kuttab discusses the Middle East with Fareed Zakaria.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Kurdistan Regional President Masoud Barzani pose for the media before their meeting in Istanbul April 19, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer/Pool (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR30XVX

Turkey’s Missed Opportunities With the Kurds

Disarray in Turkish foreign policy is not allowing Turkey to play its rightful role in supporting Kurdish national unity.

Iraqi Ambassador Says Iraq Willing To Help Bridge US-Iran Divide

Lukman Faily, Iraq’s Ambassador to Washington, says his country is ready to help, if asked, to mend US-Iran ties.

Mourners pray at the coffin of a victim killed during an attack on a prison in Taji, during a funeral at the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad July 22, 2013. Sixteen soldiers and six militants were killed during an attack on the prison on Sunday in Taji, around 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, but guards managed to prevent any inmates escaping. The attack was conducted simultaneously and followed a similar pattern as the attack on Abu Ghraib jail, where hundreds of convicts, in

Al-Qaeda Militants Raid Iraq's Abu Ghraib, Taji Prisons

Tenuous official accounts of what really transpired during the Abu Ghraib and Taji prison breaks leave many questions about the incident unanswered.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.

A vendor sits under an anti-Israel mural during a demonstration after Friday prayers in Tehran October 9, 2009. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN POLITICS RELIGION) - RTXPGS2

Ahmadinejad Tepidly Received On Final Iraq Visit

The final visit to Iraq by outgoing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad highlighted the mixed relations between the two countries during his term in office.

Kurdish women walk past a truck that was hit in the 1988 chemical attack at the memorial site for victims of the attack in the Kurdish town of Halabja, near Sulaimaniya, 260 km (160 miles) northeast of Baghdad, March 16, 2013. Iraqi Kurds on Saturday marked the 25th anniversary of the chemical attack on the northern Iraqi city of Halabja by Saddam Hussein's forces. Up to 5,000 people may have been killed by chemical gas, villages were razed and thousands of Kurds were forced into camps during the 1988 Anfal

Iraqi Kurdistan Fails to Address Violence Against Women

Violence, self-immolation and suicide continue to plague the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s women, with a shortage of civic institutions to deal with these issues.

Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers man a checkpoint in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad June 29, 2011. Iraq's Kurds may be split on everything from party politics to how to manage their region's oil wealth, but most agree on one thing: They need U.S. troops to stay to help preserve the peace. More than eight years after the U.S. invasion, Iraqis are debating whether to ask American troops to stay on past a planned withdrawal, a sensitive question that is testing its fragile power-sharing government. Kurd

Kurdish Security Forces Shield RegionFrom Iraq's Security Woes

The Kurdistan Regional Government's sophisticated intelligence network has ensured relative peace in contrast to the rest of Iraq.