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

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Iraq

June 26, 2026

Baghdad 3:20 pm

42°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 power

Will Iran's electricity cut turn Iraq toward Gulf?

Iraq is facing reduced electricity and gas supplies from Iran, which might lead Iraq toward an electricity connection with the Gulf.

Prison

Iraq keeps wary eye on prison security after Islamic State jailbreak in Syria

The dire effects of massive jailbreaks a decade prior and the thousands of Islamic State convicts and suspects in Iraqi detention have induced greater attention to facilities in the country following an attack across the border.

An aerial view of the house in which IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi died, during a raid by US Special Forces, in the town of Atme, Idlib province, Syria, Feb. 4, 2022.

Iraq tightens Syria border control after massive IS jailbreak

Measures have been stepped up along the border with Syria in the now-defunct Islamic State leader’s native province to prevent hundreds of prison escapees from slipping across.

Women mourn by a grave during a mass funeral for Yazidi victims of the Islamic State (IS) group whose remains were found in a mass grave, in the northern Iraqi village of Kojo in Sinjar district, on Dec. 9, 2021.

Islamic State leader’s death brings little solace to Iraq's suffering Yazidis

Yazidis react to the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who played a central role in orchestrating the slaughter and trafficking of the minority group.

Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr speaks to the press after a meeting with parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri, alongside other Sunni parliament members, Najaf, Iraq, April 5, 2015.

Will Sadr lead Shiite political scene, exclude Iran's allies from Cabinet?

Iraq's Sadrist movement head Muqtada al-Sadr seeks to lead the Shiite political decision and establish himself as the sole representative of the Shiites in the next Cabinet.

President of Iraq Barham Salih on June 25, 2019, in London, England.

Battle opens for presidency in Iraq

As the Kurdistan Democratic Party nominates Hoshyar Zebari for the presidency, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is looking to renew the mandate of President Barham Salih.

An Iraqi child walks past a poster of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Sadr City in Baghdad on Oct. 17, 2021.

Sadr committed to forming Iraq's first majority government

The Coordination Framework, comprised of several Shiite parties is seeking a national unity coalition modeled on previous governments, while Sadr whose bloc won the majority of seats seeks majority government.

A photo taken on June 10, 2021, shows traffic at the entrance to Baghdad International Airport.

Baghdad airport hit with rockets, no one hurt

No group has claimed credit for the latest attack.

Female members of the Syrian Democratic Forces deploy outside Ghwayran prison in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakeh on January 26, 2022.

Syrian prison battle leaves hundreds dead and many IS free

A massive attack on detention facilities in northeastern Syria under US-backed, Kurdish-led forces has ended after almost a week of fighting, though the fate of some hostages remains unclear.

This picture taken on Sept. 26, 2021 shows an electoral campaign billboard ahead of Iraq's early legislative elections, depicting current parliament speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi, along the side of a road in the city of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's central Anbar Governorate.

Iraqi parliament speaker’s home targeted amid power plays

At least three rockets landed near a residence of the Iraqi parliament speaker in his native Anbar region on Tuesday as political wrangling, disappearances and threats from Iran-linked militias continue.

Iraq Halbousi

Iraqi Federal Court rejects appeal to nullify selection of parliament speaker

The selection of parliament speaker has been upheld as the federal court rejected the request of the Coordination Framework to cancel the process.

A picture taken Oct. 26, 2021, shows the Darbandikhan Dam after the water level had fallen by 7.5 meters in one year, in northeastern Iraq.

Iran, Iraq exchange accusations over water flow

Iraq is planning to complain to the International Court of Justice about the drop in water flow from Iran.