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Iraq

April 23, 2026

Baghdad 3:27 am

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Qais al-Khazali (L), head of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, stands along with former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki after casting their ballots at a polling station in Baghdad on Nov. 11, 2025.

Split over Maliki, Iraq’s Shiite bloc delays PM vote as deadline nears: What to know

Two other candidates have emerged as alternatives to Coordination Framework nominee and former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is openly opposed by the Trump administration.

Members of Iraq's security forces stand guard on the the al-Rabia border crossing with Syria on April 20, 2026.

How Syria's border opening with Iraq redefines Turkey-Kurd balance

After years of closure, the reopening of al-Yaaroubiya crossing is redrawing Kurdish economic leverage and reinforcing Turkey’s regional strategy.

A man walks through the atrium during the 2026 IMF and World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)

IMF slashes Mideast outlook by nearly 3 points as Iran war hits economies

The International Monetary Fund cut gross domestic product forecasts for the Middle East and North Africa, with the fallout from the conflict exposing stark divergences between the region’s energy exporters and importers.

A photograph shows the damage in the aftermath of a drone strike in the Seef district of Manama on March 10, 2026.

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia summon Iraqi diplomats over militia attacks: What to know

The United States and Kuwait have likewise criticized Iraq over actions tied to Iran-backed armed groups in the country.

Latest News

Exclusive

'King of Iraq': Top judge Zaidan played key role in Shelly Kittleson's release

An undated image of Shelly Kittleson.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

How fast can Gulf energy production rebound after US-Iran ceasefire?

picture of Qatar Energy's operating facilities on March 3, 2026, in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

US journalist Shelly Kittleson released by Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq

An undated image of Shelly Kittleson.

Analysis

Hostage to Hormuz, can Gulf rewire future energy flows to bypass Iran’s chokepoint?

A police speed boat patrols the port as oil tankers and high speed crafts sit anchored at Muscat Anchorage near the Strait of Hormuz on March 30, 2026 in Muscat, Oman.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

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

AFP via Getty Images

Iraq downs Turkish drone over airspace violation, army says

The statement comes less than two weeks after Ankara and Baghdad signed a security cooperation deal, and as Turkish officials are preparing to host Iraqi, Emirati and Qatari officials for a major trade corridor project that will connect Iraq and Turkey.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey to host Iraq, Qatar, UAE officials for Development Road summit

The estimated $20 billion project was formalized during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s official visit in April to Baghdad and will link Basra to Turkey via a rail and road network.

URS FLUEELER/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi FM makes unannounced visit to Iraq, meets Sudani: What we know

Saudi Arabia and Gulf states are showing increasing interest in Iran-dominated Iraq.

Iraqi security forces monitor the area during a demonstration to demand the withdrawal of the Turkish troops from the Bashiqa camp, located in the Mosul province, on Oct. 8, 2016, outside the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad.

Analysis

Turkey’s security pact with Iraq: Which side came out on top?

The most contested presence for Baghdad is the military base established by Turkish forces in 2015 near the Iraqi town of Bashiqa.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

PKK tunnel

Exclusive

From mountaintops to underground: PKK responds to Turkey’s drones

Serdar Yektas, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Workers Party's armed wing, told Al-Monitor that Turkey’s use of its home-manufactured drones has drastically changed the nature of the conflict between them.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

A soldier rides on a Turkish armored vehicle near the Habur crossing gate between Turkey and Iraq during a military drill on September 18, 2017.

Iraq, Turkey set to end standoff over military base with new pact

The deal, hailed by both sides as historic, includes an agreement to turn a Turkish military base in the Iraqi town of Bashiqa over to the Iraqi government.

Passengers look at the flight board at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Aug. 6, 2024.

Travelers scramble as airlines cut flights amid fear of Iran-Israel war

Germany's Lufthansa extended a suspension of services to Tel Aviv, Tehran, Beirut, Amman and Erbil to Aug. 13.

This picture taken on April 25, 2023, shows a shrapnel-pocked walled in the village of Hiror near the Turkish border in northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

Turkey says PKK attack kills Turkish soldier in northern Iraq

The attack comes at a time when Turkey has intensified its offensive against the militant group in an effort to clear the PKK from the Iraq-Turkey border areas and establish up to a 40-kilometer-deep (24 miles) security zone in northern Iraq.

A woman walks holding a placard as activists demonstrate against female child marriages, in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad on July 28, 2024, amid parliamentary discussion over a proposed amendment to the Iraqi Personal Status Law. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqis protest proposed 'anti-women' amendment to personal status law

Temporarily prevented from being read in parliament, an amendment to the country’s personal status law is seen as the “latest salvo” in a lengthy battle.

Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed (L), the wife of Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, comforts a Kurdish woman during a ceremony marking the Anfal mass killings, after corpses were transferred from Baghdad to the Kurdish town of Chamchamal for burial, on February 21, 2024.

Ankara brushes off Iraqi first lady’s accusations labeling Turkey as 'invader'

In an unusual effrontery, the first lady accused Turkey of displacing hundreds and destroying large swaths of agricultural areas.

Women worshippers stand at the altar, they pray and tie knots in pieces of cloth that represent their wishes, during their visit to the new Yazidi Temple in the village of Aknalich, 35 kilometres from the Armenian capital Yerevan, on October 11, 2019.

Yazidis or Kurds? The fight over identity in Armenia and Iraq

A growing number of Yazidis insist they are not ethnic Kurds, part of an effort to construct a distinct identity in order to survive.

A US Army armored vehicle flies an American flag as it provides security escort for a convoy of vehicles pulling equipment that is heading to Kuwait from Camp Adder as the Army continues to send it's soldiers and equipment home and the base is prepared to be handed back to the Iraqi government later this month on December 2, 2011, at Camp Adder, near Nasiriyah, Iraq.

US resumes talks with Iraq over future of troop presence

Negotiations between the Biden administration and a senior Iraqi delegation resumed in Washington on Monday as Baghdad has sought to establish an end-of-mission timeline for the 2,500 US troops that remain in their country.