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Iraq

June 30, 2026

Baghdad 1:49 pm

43°C

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images

Here's what to know about Iraq's corruption as Zaidi launches crackdown

Watchdogs and financial institutions regard Iraq as a significantly corrupt country as the new prime minister works to recover public funds.

aqi security personnel patrol in a vehicle along a street in Baghdad on June 28, 2026.

Analysis

Iraqi PM’s anti-corruption drive comes as US pressure mounts on Iran-backed militias

Iraq’s new prime minister has launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign ahead of key talks in Washington, but analysts say the real test will be whether it reaches Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed actors.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

A worker at a market for fuel oil and automotive fuel on March 17, 2026, in Erbil, Iraq.

Explainer

After UAE and Qatar, could Iraq be next to leave OPEC?

Iraq is seeking a higher production quota as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has slashed oil revenues and plunged the country into a fiscal crisis.

Krikor Der-Hagopian at the 9th Sulaimani Forum, in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, on April 16, 2025.

Iraq taps Krikor Der-Hagopian as first Armenian Christian ambassador to US

Baghdad’s pick of a US-educated Armenian Christian adviser as envoy to Washington underscores a bid to reset US-Iraq ties and broaden the country’s diplomatic profile.

Latest News

Exclusive

Barrack heads to Iraq as US presses Baghdad on Iran-backed militias

Tom Barrack

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Culture

World Cup opens amid visa disputes for Iran, Iraq and Somalia

Members of the Iranian national soccer team including midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh (R) arrive at Tijuana International Airport on June 7, 2026, in Tijuana, Mexico.

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 parliamentary groupings join hands in bid to oust Abdel Mahdi

A bloc of Iraqi political parties comes together to form a strong opposition against Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi in an apparent bid to remove him from office.

Kirkuk court issues arrest warrant for acting governor

An integrity court in Kirkuk has issued an arrest warrant for Rakan Saeed al-Jabouri, the acting governor of Kirkuk, on financial corruption charges.

Judge Medhat al-Mahmoud, presiding over the supreme federal court, reads a verdict on appeals concerning amendment of an election law in Baghdad, Iraq June 21, 2018. REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa al-Deen - RC134238AFB0

Iraq considers appointing powerful clerics to high court

Iraq's legislature is mulling over a bill that would change the makeup of the country's top court to include Islamic scholars, stirring controversy over how much influence they should have.

A worker walks at the Zubair oilfield in Basra, Iraq May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani - RC15616A6B70

Cancer hits residents of Iraqi oil city of Basra

The cancer rate has been on the rise in the Iraqi oil-rich province of Basra, and many blame this on increasing pollution and on depleted uranium dust from weapons used in the 1991 Gulf War.

Members of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) demonstrate their skills during a rehabilitation military exercise at a graduation ceremony in Basra, Iraq January 31, 2019. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani - RC1DDE9A9E60

Iran-backed militias struggle to resist US pressure

Feeling the burden of US sanctions on Iran, the Popular Mobilization Units are flexing their muscles in Iraq, trying to strengthen their position.

MUNICH, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 17: Haider Al-Abadi, Prime Minister of Iraq delivers a speech at the 2018 Munich Security Conference on February 17, 2018 in Munich, Germany. The annual conference, which brings together political and defense leaders from across the globe, is taking place under heightened tensions between the USA, together with its western allies, and Russia. (Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images)

Is Abadi looking to return to prime minister's post?

Former Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi has resigned from the Islamic Dawa Party, raising questions about his possible return to the premiership.

Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) celebrate on vehicles taken from Iraqi security forces, at a street in city of Mosul, June 12, 2014. Since Tuesday, black clad ISIL fighters have seized Iraq's second biggest city Mosul and Tikrit, home town of former dictator Saddam Hussein, as well as other towns and cities north of Baghdad. They continued their lightning advance on Thursday, moving into towns just an hour's drive from the capital. Picture taken June 12, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (I

Five years later, calls for accountability over fall of Mosul continue

On the fifth anniversary of the fall of Mosul, people decry that no one has been held accountable for the tragedy.

Meet Iraq's human rights advocate who lived through two genocides

Dr. Widad Akreyi, who lived through the 1980s Anfal genocide and the 2014 Yazidi genocide, has become one of the major defenders of human rights in Iraq and beyond.

Egyptian-Turkish trade: A love-hate relationship

Egypt's free trade agreement with Turkey ends in 2020, but it is unclear whether it will be renewed in light of the political antipathy between the two countries' leaders.

Female entrepreneurs fight crisis by reviving heritage

Female entrepreneurs from Iraq, Palestine and Egypt show that hardship does not always impede creativity, particularly when you build on your country's artistic heritage.

Islamic State in Iraq is not over yet

Several terrorist attacks have occurred over the last several days across Iraq, raising concerns over a resurgence of the Islamic State.

Iraq electricity minister: US will continue exemptions for Iranian electricity imports

Iraqi Minister of Electricity Luay al-Khatteeb told Al-Monitor that US exemptions in the energy sector will continue amid tensions in US-Iran relations.