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Iraq

July 3, 2026

Baghdad 9:21 pm

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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

A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) carries an automatic rifle on a road in the Qandil Mountains, the PKK headquarters in northern Iraq, on June 22, 2018. - Hundreds of Iraqi Kurds marched Friday to protest Turkish strikes against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara would press an operation against its bases. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)

Ankara provokes Iraqi government with plans against PKK

Turkish airstrikes against pro-PKK groups in Iraq's Kurdistan put the Iraqi government in a difficult situation, as it cannot eject Kurdish militias or stop Turkish intervention.

Arbil, IRAQ: Kurdish refugee children play soccer at the Mahkmour Refugees Camp of Arbil 09 August 2005. Nearly 10 thousands refugees live at the temporary Makhmour Camp where migrating Kurds from Turkey settled from 1990 till 1995. This camp is under the control of BM and PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party). AFP PHOTO/MUSTAFA OZER (Photo credit should read MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images)

Why Turkey's Kurdish strategy will remain ineffective

While making moves to crush the Kurds’ de facto self-rule in northern Syria, Turkey has targeted also the Makhmour refugee camp in Iraq, which, ironically, holds a mirror to Ankara’s failed Kurdish policies over the years.

Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi (C) attends the opening of Baghdad International Fair, Iraq November 10, 2018. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani - RC1C7F323800

Will Iraq's prime minister fail to complete his Cabinet?

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has not been able to complete his Cabinet, despite the fact that more than two months have passed since he was appointed to the job.

Iraqi border eyes Iran influence as US plans Syria pullout

After the retaking of IS-held territory across the border and the US announcement it would pull its troops out of Syria, Iraq’s western Anbar is grappling with the prospect of increased Iranian influence amid joblessness, a lack of electricity and reports of cross-border drug smuggling.

Creating hipster culture in an old tobacco factory in Sulaimaniyah

Sulaimaniyah's defunct tobacco factory celebrates its second year as an arts and culture center.

Father John Botros Moshi, the Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, Kirkuk, and the Kurdistan Region, stands in the rubbles of the Tahra church in Mosul on April 29, 2018. - The church, established during the seventh century, was destroyed by bombings when the regime was fighting jihadists in this area. A French charity called "Brotherhood in Iraq", pledges to rebuild it. (Photo by Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP) (Photo credit should read ZAID AL-OBEIDI/AFP/Getty Images)

Christmas without Christians in IS-liberated Mosul

Mosul's second Christmas after its liberation from the Islamic State is a far cry from its past celebrations — the few churches that have been repaired remain empty.

Church’s political role sparks debate among Iraqi Christians

The Iraqi Chaldean Catholic Church attempts to have a bigger role in Christian politics, but Christian parties see this as unwarranted interference by the religious institution.

Foreign tourists visit the ancient city of Babylon near Hilla, south of Baghdad, Iraq November 14, 2018. Tourist agencies resumed work after the defeat of the Islamic state in Mosul. Picture taken November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily - RC1E92A8FAA0

Iraqi artist preserves Iraqi heritage in 3D exhibition

An Iraqi engineer leads his own mission to preserve Iraq's heritage in 3D reconstructions.

Falih al-Fayadh, Iraq's interior minister candidate arrives at parliament headquarters in the capital Baghdad on October 24, 2018, prior to a vote on the new proposed cabinet. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

Intel: How an Iraqi court gave Iran influence over Baghdad’s security policy

A general view shows Turkish flags fluttering at a military post in the village of Ashma in the Kurdish region of Kobane in northern Syria on November 8, 2018. - In recent days, cross-border Turkish artillery fire has targeted positions held by the People's Protection Units (YPG), the main Kurdish militia in Syria. Ankara sees the de-facto autonomous rule set up by Syrian Kurds as an encouragement to the separatists of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has close ties to the YPG. (Photo

US official speaks out against possible Turkish offensive in Syria

After Iraqi Kurdistan-backed Rojava Peshmerga are sent to the Turkish-Syrian border, Turkish officials inveigh against the action and what it represents.

US genocide law triggers mixed feelings among Iraqis

US President Donald Trump has signed legislation calling for greater support for religious minorities victimized by the Islamic State.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Yazidi activist Nadia Murad gestures while talking to people during her visit to Sinjar, Iraq December 14, 2018. REUTERS/Ari Jalal - RC19D80529C0

Sinjar road reconnects estranged Yazidis and Kurds with Baghdad

The opening of a strategic road in Iraq's Kurdistan Region — closed since the Kurds' ill-fated independence referendum in September 2017 — could be a prelude to a reset in ties between Erbil and Baghdad.