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Iraq

March 11, 2026

Baghdad 2:42 pm

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The sun sets behind burning gas flares at the Dora Oil Refinery Complex in Baghdad on Nov. 24, 2025.

Exclusive

Baghdad, US turn to Iraqi Kurds for oil exports as Iran war hits supplies

Baghdad wants Kurdish pipelines to move up to 200,000 barrels per day to global markets, but Erbil is demanding relief from a dollar embargo and greater autonomy over trade.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters affiliated with PAK train on Jan. 18, 2026, near Erbil, Iraq.

Why Israel's looking to Kurds to make gains against Iran regime

Israeli-Kurdish relations are rooted in a common struggle against Islamic extremism and the Kurds’ strategic presence across Turkey, Syria and Iran.

Osama Al Maqdoni / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

CIA, Mossad bolster Iran’s Kurds as US, Israel seek to ignite military revolt

Israel hopes Iran’s Kurds, and other minorities, will mobilize to help bring down the Iranian regime.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

A picture from the formation of the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan on Feb. 22, 2026.

Which 6 Kurdish groups could join the war in Iran?

Iranian Kurdish groups that recently formed an alliance could soon join the United States and Israel in their campaign against the Islamic Republic, Al-Monitor has learned.

Latest News

Exclusive

US-backed Kurdish forces poised to enter Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan 'within days'

A member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) participates in a military drill in an outpost near Erbil, Kurdistan region of Iraq on Jan. 15, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

Kurds see opening yet remain wary as Trump seeks help to oust Iran regime

An Iranian Kurdish Peshmerga member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) inspects damage sustained at the Azadi Camp of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) following an Iranian cross-border attack in the town of Koye (Koysinjaq), in the east of Erbil district in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq on March 3, 2026. The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, with the killing of Iran's supreme leader and the Islamic republic retaliated with barr

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Turkey to repatriate its ISIS fighters from Iraq as jihadis escalate Syria attacks

Women and children seen inside al-Hol camp, amongst them some 6,200 women and children from around 40 nationalities, and including relatives of suspected Islamic State jihadists in the desert region of Hasakah province on Jan. 25, 2026 in Al Hasakah, Syria.

Here is what to know about Kuwait-Iraq maritime dispute

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq.

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

Iraqi parliament votes on final version of electoral law

Iraq's Council of Representatives voted on the electoral law, which, if passed, will put forward the program for early elections scheduled for next June.

A man drives a group of pupils to school in al-Qaim in the Iraqi Anbar province, opposite Albu Kamal in Syria's Deir Ezzor region, on November 13, 2018. - Iraqi troops have reinforced their positions along the porous frontier with neighbouring war-torn Syria, fearing a spillover from clashes there between the Islamic State (IS) group and US-backed forces. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq's western Anbar province getting back on its feet, eyeing autonomy

Iraq’s Sunni-majority Anbar province has in recent months completed a number of infrastructure works in the hope of attracting more investment as the US troops' presence winds down, amid debate over the possibility of carving out an autonomous region.

Demands for payment from tribes, militias stalling investment in Iraq

Economic projects in Iraq are facing major setbacks due to ongoing payment demands from tribes and armed groups.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - UNDATED: (FILE PHOTO) Former former Baath official and deputy to deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri (C) is shown in this 1999 photograph in Baghdad, Iraq. Arab television network Al Jazeera played an audio tape March 27, 2006 purportedly from al-Douri, in which he urges Arab leaders to boycott Iraq's government and recognizes the resistance. (Photo by Salah Malkawi/Getty Images)

Iraqi Baath Party announces death of top adviser to Saddam Hussein

Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri escaped the 2003 US invasion and led the Naqshbandi Army's insurgency against Baghdad.

Ex-Ninevah governor arrested as Iraqi government reins in corruption

The arrest and forced removal of Iraqi government officials signals attempts to curb rampant corruption that has plagued the country.

Sunni agreement to expel Popular Mobilization Units from liberated Iraqi cities

Sunni political parties are using murders in Salahuddin province to demand an end to the presence of armed militias blamed for killings.

A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) carries an automatic rifle on a road in the Qandil Mountains, the PKK headquarters in northern Iraq, on June 22, 2018. - Hundreds of Iraqi Kurds marched Friday to protest Turkish strikes against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara would press an operation against its bases. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Yazidis react to Sinjar accord amid growing KRG-PKK tensions in Iraq

A security agreement reached earlier this month between the Iraqi central government and the Kurdistan Region on the disputed territory of Sinjar has sparked both praise and criticism as tensions rise between the KRG and the PKK.

Sunni Muslim men pray over the bodies of eight out of 12 fellow Iraqis, who were reportedly kidnapped on October 17 and later some of them found shot dead, during their burial ceremony in the Farhatiya area of the Balad region, located 70 kilometres (around 45 miles) north of Baghdad in the Salaheddin province, on October 18, 2020. - Local sources said the four other kidnapped men have not been found and the identity of the assailants remains unknown in the mysterious crime. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/A

Iraqi Sunni politicians organize a new political front

Dozens of Iraqi Sunni lawmakers have met to discuss forming a new alliance after eight youths were killed with alleged involvement by Shiite-led factions in Salahuddin province.

UK to return 5,000 ancient artifacts to Iraq

Included in the repatriation is a 4,000-year-old Sumerian relic discovered in an online auction.

Iran desperate to maintain Iraqi financial lifeline

Iran seeks to maintain the flow of hard currency from Iraq to help it overcome the US sanctions.

UN project hopes to preserve Iraq’s marshlands

A new UN-funded cultural project has been launched in the Ahwar of Southern Iraq to save the inhabitants of the marshlands from poverty.

Iraq invites international bidders to Mansuriya gas field

As Baghdad feels added strain from OPEC+ production cuts and continuing economic woes, the country invites international energy companies to compete for oil and gas development.