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Iraq

July 1, 2026

Baghdad 4:44 am

33°C

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images

Here's what to know about Iraq's corruption as Zaidi launches crackdown

Watchdogs and financial institutions regard Iraq as a significantly corrupt country as the new prime minister works to recover public funds.

aqi security personnel patrol in a vehicle along a street in Baghdad on June 28, 2026.

Analysis

Iraqi PM’s anti-corruption drive comes as US pressure mounts on Iran-backed militias

Iraq’s new prime minister has launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign ahead of key talks in Washington, but analysts say the real test will be whether it reaches Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed actors.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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.

Latest News

Iraq taps Krikor Der-Hagopian as first Armenian Christian ambassador to US

Krikor Der-Hagopian at the 9th Sulaimani Forum, in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, on April 16, 2025.

Exclusive

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

Tom Barrack

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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.

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

Iran VP denies Tehran behind attack inside Iraq

Iranian officials have reiterated comments by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that they will not start the war but will fight back against an invasion.

Pentagon: Preemptive strikes on table to deter Iran in Iraq

The Pentagon could make preemptive strikes to protect US forces and personnel in Iraq, top Pentagon officials said today.

US Embassy attack backfires on Iran-backed militias in Iraq

The attack against the US Embassy in Baghdad by Iranian militias inside Iraq received no support from the Iraqi public and sparked much criticism against Iran, which led the militias to end the attack before achieving any of their goals.

Students take part in a gather at the Mosul University to mourn protesters killed in anti-government rallies in the northern city of Mosul on December 1, 2019. - Demonstrators have hit the streets since early October in Baghdad and the Shiite-majority south to demand the ouster of a government they accuse of being corrupt, inefficient and beholden to foreign powers. After a spike in deaths this week raised the toll to more than 420 killed, Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said Friday he would submit his resi

Mosul joins the protests in Iraq but in a different way

Although Mosul seems quiet amid ongoing protests in Iraq, residents of the Ninevah capital are expressing solidarity with the anti-government protests in various ways.

New electoral law raises controversy in Iraq

Some Iraqi political parties are complaining that the new elections law passed by the parliament is unfair and unworkable without a census; protesters — who essentially caused legislators to pass the law — also are dissatisfied.

Hashd al-Shaabi (paramilitary forces) fighters set the U.S. Embassy wall on fire as they protest to condemn air strikes on their bases, in Baghdad, Iraq December 31, 2019. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani - RC2E6E95X08Z

Pro-Iranian militias behind US Embassy attack in Baghdad

The attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad by Iran-backed militias has escalated the tension between Iran and the United States.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks about airstrikes by the U.S. military in Iraq and Syria, at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 29, 2019. REUTERS/Tom Brenner - RC2C5E95ZX9Q

US position in Iraq in jeopardy after strikes

American strikes inside Iraq after the Pentagon alleged an Iran-backed group attacked US forces there have caused more political turmoil for some 5,000 US troops sent to the country to fight the Islamic State.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks about airstrikes by the U.S. military in Iraq and Syria, at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 29, 2019. With him are U.S. Army General Mark Milley and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. REUTERS/Tom Brenner - RC2C5E9P88JE

Intel: How Trump laid legal groundwork to strike Iran after Iraqi militia attacks

Iraqi people walk on a U.S. flag in a protest after an airstrike at the headquarters of Kataib Hezbollah militia group in Qaim, in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq December 30, 2019. REUTERS/Alaa al-Marjani - RC2Q5E9X7DV4

Iran condemns US attack in Iraq

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has condemned the US attack on PMU forces in Iraq and said Iraq has a right to respond.

PMU react angrily to US attack on Kataib Hezbollah facilities near Syrian border

US strikes on Kataib Hezbollah near the Syrian border have sparked debate over whether the attack infringed on Iraq's sovereignty. Al-Monitor spoke to the PMU commander for western Anbar, where dozens of fighters officially under his command were killed.

Iraq on brink of abyss: What happens next?

The steadily increasing crisis in Iraq is getting deeper over time, opening the space for a total political collapse.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif walks with Iranian professor Massoud Soleimani as he arrives at Mehrabad airport, in Tehran, Iran December 7, 2019. West Asia News Agency (WANA) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY - RC2JQD93R47U

Will Iran take up Trump’s offer to ‘make a deal together’?

President Donald Trump may be ready for another deal with Iran, and if so, Tehran’s leaders should take him up on it.