Iraq - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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Iraq

June 26, 2026

Baghdad 9:43 am

39°C

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.

Tom Barrack

Exclusive

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

US envoy Tom Barrack is due to meet with Iraq’s new prime minister and other top officials in Baghdad, where he will likely press US demands for Iran-backed Shiite militias be dismantled and disarmed.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

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.

Syria says Iraqi oil shipments surge as Damascus courts foreign energy investment

A long convoys of Iraqi diesel-laden tanker trucks line up along the highway Tartus-Baniyas highway as they wait to unload their cargo at the Baniyas port refinery on the Mediterranean Sea, on April 15, 2026.

Israel-Iran escalation grounds flights across parts of Middle East

An Airbus A321 airliner arrives at the Mehrabad international airport during the delivery of the first batch of planes to the Iranian state airline Iran Air in the capital Tehran on Jaunary 12, 2017. - The aircraft arrived as part of an order for 100 other Airbus planes with a list price of around $20 billion (19 billion euros) on December 22, placed after the lifting of international sanctions on the Islamic republic. It will be used for internal flights landed at Tehran's Mehrabad airport. (Photo by ATTA

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

SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images

Culture

Kurdistan Regional Government to establish new tourism directorates

Tourist visits are increasing each year to the autonomous part of northern Iraq, an area that offers many natural, cultural and religious attractions.

A picture shows the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected Islamic State (IS) group fighters in the northeastern Hasakeh governorate, on Dec. 6, 2021.

Iraqis murdered in Syria’s al-Hol camp

Tens of thousands of Iraqi nationals, mostly women and children, are “stuck in limbo” in a camp in northeastern Syria as violence against them and regional risks increase.

Iraq food

Iraqi court annuls food security bill

There are rising concerns over food security in Iraq due to the war on Ukraine and the drought, but the agriculture and trade ministries say there is no need to be concerned over the country’s strategic food reserve stocks.

A picture taken on October 17, 2017, shows excess flammable gasses burning from gas flares at the Havana oil field, west of the multiethnic northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

Iraqi Kurdistan government denies taking control of oil fields in Kirkuk

An oil company run by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil alleged that the Kurdistan Regional Government’s forces took over some oil fields in the disputed northern province.

PKK fighters guard a post bearing an image of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Kurdistan officials concerned about PKK, Iran and energy sector

High-ranking officials from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have voiced concerns over the lack of effective collaboration from Baghdad and risks to security from the presence of the PKK.

Iraqi-Kurdistan

Iraqi election officials conduct the electronic count of votes at a polling station in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, Oct. 10, 2021.

Upcoming KRG election marred by political divisions

Due to the political dispute in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, the Oct. 1 regional parliamentary election is likely to be delayed.

Iraqi-Kurdistan

Iraq dust storm

Dust storms hit Iraqi cities as Green Belt project stalls

Desertification has hit additional land areas in Iraq, which caused more dust storms to sweep through Iraqi cities, in the absence of the Green Belt project despite the huge sums allocated for its implementation.

A picture taken on Feb. 4, 2019, shows a general view of damaged buildings in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar.

International wing of Yazidi force in Sinjar says it's 'not fighting Turkey'

After three Western deserters claimed that the YBS forces were fighting Turkey and Iraq, the commander of the international brigade denied the allegations.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) and Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.

Russian ambassador to Iraq: ‘No objections’ to Kurdistan Region exporting gas to Europe

Elbrus Kutrashev spoke to the Kurdish news outlet Rudaw about plans to export natural gas from the autonomous part of northern Iraq to Europe in response to the war in Ukraine.

Suleiman

Iraqi militia power plays bring back outcast Sunni leader

Iran-linked parties in Iraq are playing on perceived and actual support for once-ostracized Sunni leaders to divide their political opponents despite inherent risks.

PKK

Analysis

Sinjar becomes latest flashpoint for Iran-Turkey tensions in Iraq

New Pentagon IG report says that the Turkey-PKK conflict and Iranian militias are contributing to instability in Iraq.

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Iraq's Council of Representatives in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

Iraqi coalitions look to break political deadlock

The proposals come as Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's 40-day window to form a government draws to a close.