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Iraq

July 4, 2026

Baghdad 8:18 pm

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An aerial view shows port of the western Syrian port city of Latakia, on Dec. 18, 2024.

Analysis

Can a UAE-backed Syria-Iraq corridor become Gulf's next trade route?

On June 26, Emirati and Syrian officials discussed plans for a logistics corridor connecting Syrian ports to Gulf markets via Iraq.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

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

Latest News

Explainer

After UAE and Qatar, could Iraq be next to leave OPEC?

A worker at a market for fuel oil and automotive fuel on March 17, 2026, in Erbil, Iraq.

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

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

Tribal leaders gather for a meeting in Mosul on August 30, 2017 to discuss the security situation after Iraqi forces reseized the city from the Islamic State (IS) group in July.
Iraqi troops backed by a US-led international coalition routed IS in Mosul in July after a gruelling nine-month fight for Iraq's second city. / AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

Will Iraq's new 'tribal court' undermine rule of law?

A group of tribal sheikhs will be appointed by the Ministry of Justice to intervene as arbitrators to resolve disputes and conflicts between Iraqi tribes, which some fear will undermine the rule of law in Iraq.

The dueling ayatollahs

Khamenei, Sistani, and the fight for the soul of Shiite Islam

Iraqi police who fought for tribal PMUs won't return to force

Local Iraqi police officers who joined the Popular Mobilization Units to fight the Islamic State seem to have no intention of returning to their old jobs.

Iraqis hold guns as they hunt at in the Chibayish marshes near the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriyah on September 13, 2016.
UNESCO has named Iraqi marshlands once ravaged by dictator Saddam Hussein as a World Heritage Site, a bright spot for a country where jihadists have repeatedly sought to wipe out history.

/ AFP / Haidar HAMDANI (Photo credit should read HAIDAR HAMDANI/AFP/Getty Images)

Iraqi boat-makers struggle to keep their trade afloat

The ancient craft of building boats, which is one of Iraq's oldest heritage industries, is disappearing, with only a few dozen workshops left in the country.

How will Sinjar crisis end as tensions mount between Baghdad, Ankara?

Ankara's insistence on combating the Kurdistan Workers Party may push Baghdad to take the lead on cleansing northern Iraq of the Kurdish militia, a scenario that presents a new internal crisis in Iraq's Kurdistan Region.

Iraqi security forces members hold a position as they advance towards the Salaheddine province in the western desert bordering Syria, on November 26, 2017, in a bid to flush out remaining Islamic State (IS) group fighters in the al-Jazeera region.
Iraqi forces thrust north from the Euphrates Valley into the desert a day earlier, opening up a new front in the drive to flush out fugitive Islamic State group fighters, a commander told AFP. / AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read /AFP/Getty Images)

Baghdad clamps down on cross-border arms smuggling

While security along the Iraqi-Syrian border has improved with the near defeat of the Islamic State, Iraqi security forces still have their hands full trying to prevent arms smuggling and attacks by what is left of the terror group.

Iraqi churches shoulder burden of reconstruction, for now

In Iraq, churches have taken the lead in persuading and helping Christians return to towns razed by the Islamic State.

Iranian soldiers recover an unexploded anti tank mine, January 21, 2001, left over from the 1980-1988 war with Iraq using a metal detector and spike but no protective clothing. Iran and Iraq declared a cease-fire, but have not signed a formal peace treaty, therefore, Iran does not have access to maps of the minefields laid by retreating Iraqi forces. Army officials estimate that of 1,800,000 hectares of Iran's border with Iraq which was mined, 700,000 hectares have been cleared with no international assista

Iran-Iraq War continues to claim lives

The vast number of anti-personnel mines planted during the Iran-Iraq War continue to maim and kill on both sides of the border, but Iran refuses to engage states and organizations with experience in de-mining.

U.S army soldier holds a gun as he stands guard next to an armoured vehicle as Brett McGurk, U.S. envoy to the coalition against Islamic State, visits the town of Tabqa, Syria June 29, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RC1AEEE29680

Counter-IS officials temper Trump’s rush to pull out of Syria

US officials guiding the fight in Syria warned of a long struggle ahead to defeat the Islamic State.

Expect change in Iraq when embattled Kurds cast ballots

Iraqi Kurds have made it clear in recent protests that they will make their voices heard and their votes count.

Iraqi people shout slogans during a demonstration against the poor quality of basic services, power outages and calling for trial of corrupt politicians in Baghdad, Iraq, August 28, 2015. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Friday ordered security forces to ease access to Baghdad's fortified Green Zone and main streets, in an apparent bid to improve daily life for ordinary Iraqis as fresh protests erupted across the country. Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled Baghdad's Tahrir Square on Friday in

Iraqi courts seeking out atheists for prosecution

Atheism is increasing among young people in Iraq, which some are blaming on Islamic parties' mismanagement of the country.

25 Jan 2016 - Sinjar, Iraq. Kurds Peshmerga walks through the ruins of the city which had a mixed population of yazidi and muslims kurds. The city has been invaded by ISIS/Daesh on the 3rd of August 2014. Sinjar has been officially liberated in November 2015 cutting the road used by the jhiadi group as a supply route between Raqqah and Mosul. The city is today a ghost town inhabited almost only by military groups such as Kurds Peshmerga, PKK, Iraqi Police and YBS (Yazidi Sinjar Resistance Units). At present

Erdogan keeps finger on trigger as PKK exits Sinjar

It's unclear whether reports of Kurdish militants' withdrawal from Sinjar in Iraq have convinced Turkey not to launch a military offensive.