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Iraq

July 8, 2026

Baghdad 8:22 am

36°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

Tunisian Foreign Minister Taieb Baccouche (R) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Tunis, Tunisia November 13, 2015. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi - RTS6SST

Kerry sells foreign aid budget

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of Feb. 22.

Why this Iraqi city is starving

Residents of Fallujah, Mosul and other Iraqi cities under the Islamic State’s control are suffering under an IS strategy calculated to turn them against their government.

Iranian anti-narcotics policemen protect themselves from blowing sand at a police barracks on the border with Afghanistan near Zabol, 1,605 kilometers (1,003 miles) southeast of Tehran May 20, 2009. Iran, which shares a 900-km (560-mile) border with Afghanistan, is a conduit for smuggling drugs to the West from its insurgency-ridden neighbour. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN CRIME LAW POLITICS SOCIETY) - RTXKMQR

Iran struggles with border security

An IRGC commander says the elite Saberin Unit has provided Iran with security on its borders.

Zoroastrianism in Iraq seeks official recognition

Al-Monitor interviewed Zoroastrian spiritual leader in Iraq Peer Luqman Haji, who spoke about the resurgence of this millennia-old religion, the challenges and the need for tolerance in a region plagued by growing religious radicalism.

Beer cans are seen on the ground at the Ashurbanipal cultural society in Baghdad after an attack January 16, 2011. Men armed with steel pipes last week raided the Christian social club boasting a bar, and vandalized liquor shops in Baghdad, raising fears of a creeping fundamentalism as Iraq's new government gets to work. Picture taken January 16, 2011. REUTERS/Saad Shalash (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTXWPQJ

Can Iraq separate religion and state?

Campaigns against social activity in Iraq call for a state that imposes its own rules and where Islamic factions have no power or influence.

Jewish shrine reminds Iraqis of religious coexistence

Although the tomb of Jewish Prophet Ezra was turned into an Islamic landmark over the years following the Jewish exodus in the 1950s, clerics there say they are preserving the Jewish character of the shrine.

Shi'ite fighters sit on the top of Spiral Minaret of the Great Mosque in Samarra, February 3, 2016. Picture taken February 3, 2016. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad - RTX25EVC

Obama's anti-IS envoy: Shiites saved Iraq

President Obama's envoy praises all sides in a bid to keep the coalition together.

A displaced family from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing the violence, walks towards the entrance of Mosul, in northern Iraq August 21, 2014. Iraqi and Kurdish forces recaptured Iraq's biggest dam from Islamist militants with the help of U.S. air strikes to secure a vital strategic objective in fighting that threatens to break up the country, Kurdish and U.S. officials said on Monday. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR437XY

Who are Iraq's Kakai?

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Ako Shawais, the first political representative of Iraq’s Kakai minority, discusses why this sect is so secretive and its careful struggle for political and religious rights.

Iraq's new Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi attends the Parliament session to submit his government in Baghdad September 8, 2014. Iraq's parliament approved a new government headed by Haider al-Abadi as prime minister on Monday night, in a bid to rescue Iraq from collapse, with sectarianism and Arab-Kurdish tensions on the rise. REUTERS/Hadi Mizban/Pool (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR45G2T

Party squabbles have Iraqi PM by the coattails

A Cabinet shuffle by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is unlikely to assuage protesters demanding substantive government reform and the removal of corrupt officials.

How to overcome Iraq’s economic crisis

Iraq's economic recovery requires strong institutions and infrastructure, but with no time to wait for stability, the state should provide financial support and administrative facilities to help small businesses grow now.

Congress gets first-hand account of war against IS

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of Feb. 8.

Saudi ambassador's comments on Popular Mobilization Units stir ire of Iraqis

The statements made by the Saudi ambassador to Baghdad about the Popular Mobilization Units in Iraq have stirred mixed reactions in the political sphere and on the Iraqi street.