Iraqi elections

A delivery person rides a motorcycle past election billboards for candidates and blocs competing in Iraq's upcoming November parliamentary election, including incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, displayed along a street in Baghdad on Oct. 3, 2025.

Iraq’s Shiite alliance meets to chart strategy after Sudani comes first in election

The final results of last week’s election showed Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s list winning 46 seats in parliament, the most of any party, though he is not guaranteed to remain in his current role.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Turkey to navigate enduring Iranian influence in Iraq following elections

Ankara will have to navigate Iran-aligned factions’ influence in Iraq while safeguarding strategic ties and ongoing cooperation with Baghdad.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

SAFIN HAMID/AFP via Getty Images

Sudani ahead in early Iraq vote count, path to power uncertain

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani is not guaranteed to stay on even if his list wins.

People walk past electoral campaign posters ahead of Iraq's parliamentary elections in central Baghdad on Nov. 6, 2025.

Analysis

Will Iraq’s election results reshape Iran’s role in Baghdad?

Tehran's sway over Baghdad is facing new challenges, with fatigued allies, US pressure and postwar regional shifts redefining Iran's influence in its most strategic neighbor.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Latest News

Iraq’s election turnout rises to 55%, defying expectations: What to know

Iraqi voters wait to cast their ballots at the Al-Ghufran school, turned into a polling station in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Nov. 11, 2025 during Iraq's parliamentary elections.

Analysis

Turkey eyes continuity in Iraq as elections test Sudani’s pro-Ankara momentum

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Iraq's prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, during the signing ceremony of memorandums of understanding between Iraq and Turkey, in Ankara on May 8, 2025.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Iraq elections: What to know as Sudani seeks second term

Iraqis walk past electoral billboards, including one bearing a portrait of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (C), in central Baghdad on Oct. 19, 2025, ahead of Iraq's parliamentary elections on Nov. 11.

Iraq elections: Sadr renews calls for boycott one week out from vote

Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr gives a speech in Iraq's central holy shrine city of Najaf on Aug. 30, 2022.

Iraqis drive past electoral billboards and placards of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Karrada district, Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 19, 2021.

US welcomes conviction of Iranian, 4 Iraqis for killing American citizen

Stephen Troell, an aid worker in Baghdad, was killed in November when gunmen opened fire on his car.

Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R) poses with Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Baghdad on Aug. 22, 2023.

Turkey’s FM tackles long-held disputes with Iraq in first official visit

Hakan Fidan chose Iraq for his first official visit as Turkey's new foreign minister, but the visit appeared to yield little progress on long-standing disputes between Ankara and Baghdad.

Stacks of Iraqi dinars are seen at a currency exchange shop, Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 14, 2023.

Iraqi dinar falls 17% against dollar amid US restrictions over Iran deals

The current depreciation follows 14 Iraqi banks being barred from using the dollar amid a crackdown on smuggling to Iran.

Iraqi children gather at a playground in the old city of Mosul on June 30, 2023 during the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha. (Photo by Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP) (Photo by ZAID AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Iraq's Mosul rises from Islamic State ashes to rebuild minarets, museum

As Mosul makes a slow revival from the remnants of war, a host of challenges remain, including corrupt officials and institutional weaknesses in Iraq.

Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R) shakes hands with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, in Baghdad on Feb. 2, 2023.

Saudi Arabia, UAE invest $6 billion in Iraq operations

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia will join together to boost trade and commerce in Iraq.

A worker is seen at the Tawke oil refinery near the village of Zacho, in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan Region, May 31, 2009.

Analysis

How Iraq’s new budget affects oil arrangement with Kurdistan region

The success of Iraq's largest-ever budget is partially dependent on oil prices, and follows the federal government asserting more control over the Kurdistan Region's oil sector.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Karwan Gaznay

Iraqi Kurdish politician survives assassination attempt

Tensions have been high for months between the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, though recent dialogue may have calmed the situation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and French President Emmanuel Macron (R) speak as they visit the garden of the residence of the Governor of Guangdong, on April 7, 2023, where Chinese President XI Jinping's father, XI Zhongxun lived. (Photo by Jacques WITT / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JACQUES WITT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

In China, Macron eyes bigger role for France on Iran and Middle East

On the sideline of French efforts to construct a healthy economic relationship with the Chinese giant, Paris also signals it is willing to cooperate with Beijing on talks regarding Iran's nuclear program.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

A member of the Iraqi security forces stands by a destroyed vehicle that was carrying rockets amdist sacks of flour, in the district of al-Baghdadi in al-Anbar province on July 8, 2021. - Fourteen rockets were fired on July 7 at an air base hosting American troops in the western province of Anbar, causing minor injuries to two personnel, the coalition said. The rockets "landed on the base & perimeter" of the Ain al-Assad base, the coalition spokesman tweeted, adding that local homes and a mosque were also d

Iraqi militias escalate rhetoric against US, threatening more attacks

After a period of calm following the formation of the new government, angry rhetoric has been rising against the US embassy's social outreach to Iraqi groups and tribes.

MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP via Getty Images

Oil deal reached between Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government

The Kurdistan Regional Government says an agreement will result in the resumption of oil exports to Turkey after a legal dispute stopped outflows.

A view of an oil refinery in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, on June 20, 2014. Kurdish forces took control of Kirkuk and other disputed territory as Sunni Arab militants pressed an offensive that has seen them seize a large chunk of Iraq and sweep federal security forces aside. AFP PHOTO/KARIM SAHIB (Photo by KARIM SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqi efforts underway to resolve Kurdish oil exports via Turkey

Ankara, Baghdad and Erbil appear willing to negotiate a new mechanism after an international tribunal dealt a blow to Kurdistan’s drive to sell its oil independently.

Demonstrators lift national flags during a protest near Baghdad's Green Zone on February 27, 2023.

Iraqis continue to protest controversial electoral law amendment

An amendment was passed by the Iraqi parliament that critics say will benefit larger political parties at the expense of independents that emerged following the 2019 Tishreen protests.