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Iraq

August 28, 2026

Baghdad 12:59 pm

44°C

Fred TANNEAU / AFP via Getty Images

Iraq summons Iran envoy over 'Persian Gulf' post, Baghdad name origins: What to know

The move comes amid heightened tensions in the region, including over the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the controversially referenced gulf to the Arabian Sea.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi delivers a speech in Baghdad, May 16, 2026.

Exclusive

Iraq's Zaidi set to make European debut with Macron in France

The Iraqi prime minister is expected to sign several memorandums of understanding with France during his Sept. 14 meeting with Macron as Baghdad seeks to diversify its diplomatic and security ties.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Oil falls 1.8% as traders await 'toughest' sanctions on Iran

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Iraq’s Zaidi doubles down on militia disarmament, boosting oil exports

Zaidi

Interview

Barzani calls for enhanced air defense for Kurdistan Region to counter drone attacks

Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, gives a press conference in the autonomous region's capital Arbil on June 25, 2025.

Masrour Barzani

Masrour Barzani

KRG Prime Minister

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

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.

SABAH ARAR/AFP via Getty Images

Iraq strikes Islamic State hideouts

The US military said in a recent report that IS’ capabilities are “degraded” in Iraq and Syria.

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

Kurds suffer as Iraq, Turkey fail to restart oil flow ahead of Turkish FM's Baghdad visit

As Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is set to meet in Baghdad with Iraqi leaders, disrupted oil flows, water and cooperation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party are expected to top the agenda.

A medic works at a laboratory at the Nablus hospital, run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), in Iraq's northern city of Mosul on Dec. 16, 2021.

Iraq's war-battered cities grapple with rising resistance to antibiotics

Six years after the liberation of Mosul from the Islamic State, the city battles a silent enemy: abnormally high rates of multidrug-resistant infections. It's a phenomenon fueled by decades of war that poses a massive threat to global health.

Iraqi security forces deploy near the gate of the green zone in Baghdad during a demonstration marking Labour Day on May 1, 2023, to demand a law establishing a salary grid to reduce pay inequalities for around 3 million government employees in the country.

US, Iraq defense chiefs discuss post-Islamic State strategy

Congress has long sought answers as to how the Pentagon plans to prepare Iraq’s military forces to stand on their own after the defeat of the Islamic State. This week, the Biden administration took a first step.

In this photo illustration, the messaging service Telegram app is seen on a mobile phone on Jan. 11, 2021.

Iraqi militias continue to use Telegram despite block

Iraq’s state media channel switched to the Israeli-founded Viber in response to the ban. Telegram is popular with protesters and militias alike in Iraq.

Mideast heat

Culture

From Egypt to Iran, heatwave compounds Middle East electricity problems, climate change burdens

Countries like Iraq are particularly susceptible to climate change, as recurring blackouts make it harder to stay cool indoors.

ZAID AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images

UK formally recognizes genocide against Yazidis by Islamic State

The United Kingdom is the latest country to recognize the 2014 mass slaughter of Yazidis by the Islamic State as genocide.

Relatives mourn over the caskets of 11 people killed in Turkish airstrikes.

US, Russia mum as Turkey escalates attacks against Kurdish groups in Syria, Iraq

Both the White House and the State Department remain silent as Turkey's military campaign against the PKK continues "full blast."

SAFIN HAMID/AFP via Getty Images

Iraq’s Yazidis appeal to Baghdad for funds to rebuild their native Sinjar

Iraq's Yazidi groups are pleading for more financial assistance to rebuild Sinjar, which was decimated by the Islamic State.

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.

Iraq Sako

Analysis

Inside Iraq’s Chaldean Catholic Church battle with Iran-backed Christian group

The Babylon Movement and its sanctioned leader, Rayan al-Kaldani, are feuding with Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako, leading to significant controversy that now involves the United States and the Vatican.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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