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

Iran cover image

Iraq

July 5, 2026

Baghdad 6:14 pm

43°C

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

Court backs Baghdad by stalling Kurdish referendum

The Baghdad government has several legal, economic and military options to prevent the Kurdistan region from conducting an independence referendum that is opposed by most regional and global powers.

A man reads a copy of the magazine "Israel-Kurd" at a street in Arbil, 310 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad August 16, 2009. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ SOCIETY) - GM1E58H06K201

How Israel's support is swaying Kurdish sentiment ahead of referendum

Turkey’s Kurds may have divergent views on Israeli backing for the referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan, but their support for the independence bid remains robust.

International artists explore fragmented Middle East in Istanbul

The 2017 Istanbul Biennial asks what makes a good neighbor in a world plagued by war, repression and division.

Turkish military sends anti-referendum message with exercises across border

Ankara is trying to tell its neighbors something with its massive military exercise across the border from Iraqi Kurdistan as the Kurdish Regional Government's independence referendum nears.

(LtoR) Turkey's Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini give a joint press conference following the EU-Turkey High Level Political Dialogue meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on July 25, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkish FM says KRG referendum 'big mistake'

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks about the upcoming independence vote in Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkish-EU relations and expanding cooperation with Russia.

Iraqi Kurdistan's young sportsmen put on gloves

Fighters from all over Iraq and Lebanon compete in the first mixed martial arts tournament in Erbil.

TOPSHOT - A Syriac Christian militiaman stands guard on top of a building during an easter ceremony at the Saint John's church (Mar Yohanna) in the nearly deserted predominantly Christian Iraqi town of Qaraqosh (also known as Hamdaniya), some 30 kilometres from Mosul, on April 16, 2017.
Qaraqosh was retaken by Iraqi forces late in 2016 as part of a massive offensive to wrest back the nearby city of Mosul from Islamic State (IS) group fighters but it remains almost completely deserted.
/ AFP PHOTO / CHRIST

Congress fuels Christian rivalries with bid to arm Iraqi militias

A House effort to arm Iraqi Christian militias risks making an already tense standoff in the Ninevah Plains even worse.

Iraqi farmers fight against imported goods, corruption

The Iraqi market is flooded with foreign agricultural and food products, which affects local farmers and food producers.

Sectarian forces fight for influence in Iraq's Diyala province

After being liberated from the Islamic State, the Diyala province is suffering from increased ethnic, sectarian and political conflicts that could turn into armed clashes at any moment.

A member of an Iraqi unit searches for bombs and mines near the site of an explosion in the city of Mosul, Iraq March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal - RC11A0823EB0

US faces WWII-scale explosives cleanup in Iraq after Islamic State fight

Cleaning up the booby traps that IS fighters have left all over the country will take many years and millions of dollars.

Prospect of Kurdish independence raises talk of war

Friction is growing between Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government as the latter's independence vote approaches.

A man looks at a printed banner of Kurdistan region referendum in Erbil, Iraq August 26, 2017. Picture taken August 26, 2017. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RC1D90FE8B20

200,000 Jewish Kurds headed for Iraqi Kurdistan, howls Turkish press

The Turkish media is abuzz with the story of a secret agreement between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Israel to resettle Jewish Israelis of Kurdish origin in Iraqi Kurdistan after the independence referendum, and some quarters are taking the news as an indication of US support for Kurdish independence.