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Iraq

July 6, 2026

Baghdad 7:08 am

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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

Turkish military vehicles drive east of al-Bab town, Syria March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RTS126QM

Turkey potential spoiler of US-Russian progress on Syria

Turkey may find common ground with Damascus and Tehran in its concerns about Syrian Kurds; UNHCR notes trend of "spontaneous returns" in Syria; Turkey seizes property of ancient Christian community.

Defense budget to provide broader Iraq security support

A Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act, set to be released next week, will provide greater leeway for support for Iraqi homeland security.

Displaced Iraqi children who fled their homes with their families play outside Hammam al-Alil camp south of Mosul, Iraq April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTS12SFT

US drops Iraq from list of countries that recruit children for war

Iraq has been dropped from the US list of countries accused of recruiting children for war, which is an achievement for Iraq on the road to keeping its society away from violence.

Ammar al-Hakim, leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), gives a speech during a ceremony to commemorate his late uncle, cleric Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim, in Baghdad, April 8, 2016. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad - RTSE68O

Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq at risk of fragmentation

A number of prominent leaders of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq withdrew from the council that has put the political future of the party at risk.

Iraqi Federal Police members hold an Islamic State flag, which they pulled down during fighting between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants, in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq July 4, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad - RTX3A0D3

Mosul liberation will not be end of IS

History has proven that militarily defeating extremist groups such as al-Qaeda does not mean the end of their ideology, and it seems the Islamic State will not stop at the Mosul liberation.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (C) Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi (2nd-L) Planning Minister Salman al-Jumaili (L) Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari (2nd-R) and Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Muhammad Shia al-Sudani pose for picture at the secretary general office during the Annual UN General Assembly on September 30, 2015 in New York. AFP PHOTO/Kena Betancur (Photo credit should read KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images)

Planning minister: Iraq needs $100 billion for post-IS reconstruction

Iraqi Minister of Planning Salman al-Jumaili spoke with Al-Monitor about rebuilding the liberated areas and the economic and social challenges the country faces.

An Iraqi cover his boy with sand from a sulfur pond at Hammam al-Alil city south of Mosul, Iraq April 3, 2017. Picture taken April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX3403L

Iraq’s thermal spa poised for facelift

Tourists are returning to Mosul's Hammam al-Alil spa, which used to attract thousands of people to its healing waters before the Islamic State took control of the city.

Supporters of the Iraqi national team wave their national flag during the international friendly football match between Iraq and Jordan at Basra Sports City in Basra on June 1, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / HAIDAR MOHAMMED ALI (Photo credit should read HAIDAR MOHAMMED ALI/AFP/Getty Images)

Iraq hopes to bring FIFA soccer back to its stadiums

Iraq is hosting showcase soccer games during a three-month "probation" period as it works to convince FIFA that the country has overcome security and organizational problems and is ready to get back in the game.

General view of the library of the University of Mosul burned and destroyed during the battle with Islamic State militants, in Mosul, Iraq January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah - RTX2YYOT

Iraqi civil society groups seek to restock Mosul libraries

Civil society organizations and cultural institutions are rushing to supply two libraries in Mosul with books, publications and periodicals.

Iraq accelerates work on its virtual national museum

The Virtual Museum of Iraq, which has been a work in progress since 2005, aims to bring Iraqi heritage and archaeological artifacts online by the end of 2018.

Iraqi Shi'ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr delivers a speech in Najaf, Iraq March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani - RTX31P3G

New political alliance unites Iraqi religious and secular parties

In a sudden development, the Sadrist movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr and the National Coalition led by Ayad Allawi announced the formation of a political alliance in the upcoming elections.

Members of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU), a small Christian militia charged with protecting the predominantly Christian Iraqi town of Qaraqosh (Hamdaniya), pray in a destroyed church in the town which lies some 30 kilometres east of the northern city of Mosul on March 3, 2017.
Qaraqosh was ravaged by IS jihadists, who seized it in June 2014 as they rampaged across parts of northern Iraq, capturing second city Mosul and swathes of the area known as the Nineveh Plain, home to much of the county's d

As Mosul battle nears end, Iraqi Christians wary of return

Despite the liberation of the Ninevah Plains, very few Iraqi Christians have returned to their historical homeland, while the majority of them refuse to return due to security concerns.