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Since 2012, the Week in Review keeps you ahead of the curve with in-depth analysis of the trends in the region, based on AL-MONITOR’s world class reporting.

Iraq can’t survive a US-Iran war

The Iraqi government is on edge after the United States takes out Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, calls for restraint.
Iranian demonstrators chant slogans during a protest against the assassination of the Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in front of United Nation office in Tehran, Iran January 3, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Nazanin Tabatabaee via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC2G8E9UFHDR

Zaidi’s test in Tehran

Less than 24 hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi returned from Tehran on Thursday, Iraqi Kurdistan again came under attack.

Five explosive drones were intercepted over Erbil by US-led coalition air defenses, triggering explosions and smoke near the airport that hosts coalition forces and sits adjacent to the US consulate. While Iraq’s Kurdistan region is no stranger to attacks by Iran and its proxies, the timing was hard to ignore. For Tehran, despite the arrival of a new Iraqi prime minister promising a different path, it appears to be business as usual.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is welcomed to the Saadabad Palace in Tehran by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, July 23, 2026.