Amid increasing tensions between militias, Muqtada al-Sadr calls for reforming the PMU

Rival Shiite armed factions took their fight to Iraq’s key port city as leaders officially called for calm and closed offices.

Iraq

Analysis

The Takeaway: Uneasy calm returns to Iraq but deep divisions remain

Israel’s top figures divided on Iran deal; Turkish pop star arrested; Iranian museum fumigates for bugs; Cairo evicts Nile island residents; and Hamas reacts to Turkish-Israel rapprochement.

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

US says oil contracts in Iraqi Kurdistan should be ‘respected’

Some companies have pulled out of the autonomous region following pressure from the federal government, which considers the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports unconstitutional.

Iraq

Iraqi PM threatens to step down as tensions persist after clashes

Following the bloody clash in Baghdad's Green Zone, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi threatened to vacate the position if the conflict continues.

Iraq

How realistic is Erdogan’s vision for security belt from Syria to Iraq?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he is bent on creating an “end-to-end” security belt along Turkey’s southern borders with Syria and Iraq — a vision too ambitious given the political and topographic conditions of the areas in question.

Turkey

Deadly intra-Shiite violence rattles Iraq’s Kurds

Kurds are "deeply troubled by the new cycle of violence in Iraq" and look to be peacemakers.

Iraq

Protesters withdraw from Baghdad's Green Zone

Following Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's order, his followers have withdrawn completely from the Green Zone and evacuated the parliament building.

Iraq

Iraq's neighbors urge calm in response to Baghdad clashes

The situation in Baghdad has calmed somewhat after cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on his supporters to pull back.

Iraq

Iran urges dialogue amid Iraq turmoil  

Iranian authorities have called on Iraqi factions to seek political solutions as Baghdad streets saw deadly clashes between members of the Shiite Sadrist movement and their Tehran-backed rivals.  

Iraq

Sadr announces hunger strike as 20 killed in Baghdad clashes

Clashes between rival Shiite groups, the Sadrists and the Popular Mobilization Units, have left more than 20 dead and hundreds injured.

Iraq

Iraq issues arrest warrants for Sadrist leaders after judiciary storming

The Iraqi judiciary issued arrest warrants and travel bans against key Sadrist movement leaders amid violent political conflicts, but their enforcement could be a sensitive task.

Iraq

US: No plans to evacuate embassy in Baghdad, monitoring clashes

White House official calls for calm in Iraq following Muqtada al-Sadr's resignation from politics.

Iraq