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

Iran cover image

Iraq

June 26, 2026

Baghdad 1:08 pm

41°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

Iraq politics

Iraq's parliament sets date for selecting president from Kurdish ranks

The selection of Iraqi president have been delayed because of the sharp division between the two main Kurdish parties over which candidate should fill the role reserved for their group.

A general view shows a damaged mansion following an overnight attack in Erbil, the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region, March 13, 2022.

IRGC attack narratives diverge as Iraq strives for unity

An IRGC attack on Erbil has sparked outcry and raised concern in Iraq over armed groups that do not recognize the country’s national sovereignty.

A picture taken on March 13, 2022, shows a view of the damaged studio at the Kurdistan 24 TV building, after an overnight attack in Arbil, the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region.

Iran missile attack on Erbil goes beyond retaliation for IRGC deaths

The attack early Sunday could also be related to both the now stalled Iran nuclear talks and Iraqi government formation.

Randa Abd al-Aziz.

Culture

First female Afro-Iraqi TV presenter says 'time to see all Iraqi colors'

Iraqi public television has appointed an Afro-Iraqi presenter for the first time in the country's history.

Al-Askari mosque

Culture

Samarra still struggles to reclaim its historical place in Iraq

Since 2007, security measures have increased and violence has seldom returned in the Sunni city, but residents ask for some sense of normalcy.

Militias support Russian invasion as Iraq refuses to condemn

Iraq has aligned with China and Iran in abstaining from a UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Hackers post an image with the words “Iraq came, then history came" on a CBS website.

CBS hacked after reporter says Ukraine ‘relatively civilized’ compared to Iraq

Western media comparisons of the war in Ukraine to the Middle East have been widely criticized.

The building of the Supreme Judicial Council, Iraq's top court, Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 19, 2022.

Iraqi federal court accused of politicization

Iraq's federal court is under scrutiny for seemingly politically influenced decisions on sensitive cases.

This photograph shows an Ukrainian armoured personnel carrier (APC) BTR-4 destroyed as a result of fight not far from the centre of Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, located some 50 km from Ukrainian-Russian border, on Feb. 28, 2022.

Iraqi students stranded in Ukraine

Iraqi students are stuck in Ukraine and seem unable to flee due to the Russian invasion of that country.

Sipan Murad, a Yazidi girl who was held captive by the Islamic State, at her house in Rottweil, Germany, on Feb. 18, 2022.

Culture

Against all odds, Yazidi girl outlives her top-ranking Islamic State captors

Sipan Ajo, a 22-year-old Yazidi survivor from Kocho, emerged six months ago from seven years of captivity in Syria and has described her ordeal in detail to a journalist for the first time.

Nasiriyah protest

Iraqi officer arrested for 2019 killing of protesters

An interior ministry officer accused of serious human rights abuses during the war against the Islamic State has been arrested after documents emerged allegedly showing his direct involvement in the 2019 killing of protesters.

Syria funeral

Iraqi populist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr calls Russia-Ukraine war 'absolutely useless'

Regional alignments solidify after the invasion of Ukraine, as Iraqi politicians call for peace while four-way collaboration on dealing with the Islamic State and border security continues with Russia, Iran and Syria.