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

Iran cover image

Iraq

July 8, 2026

Baghdad 1:10 pm

41°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

Economic curtain closing on Iraqi theater

Theatrical productions are languishing in Iraq as austerity measures take center stage.

(L-R) Republican Senate leaders Tom Barrasso (R-WY), John Thune (R-SD), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and John Cornyn (R-TX) hold a news conference on budget negotiations on Capitol Hill in Washington December 15, 2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron - RTX1YUAQ

Tunisia wins, Iran loses in US spending bill

Key US allies get a funding boost while Congress holds the line on visa waivers and Palestinian penalties.

The Russian Navy large landing ship Yamal is escorted by a Turkish Navy Coast Guard boat as it sets sail in the Bosphorus, on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey, December 9, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTX1XWMH

Turkey goes from zero problems to nothing but problems in the region

Ankara’s recent political and strategic mistakes have resulted in an anti-Turkish alliance in the Middle East that looks to Moscow for support.

People from the minority Yazidi sect take refuge in a building in Shikhan January 19, 2015. Islamic State has hounded ethnic and religious minorities in northern Iraq since seizing the city of Mosul in June, killing and displacing thousands of Christians, Shi'ite Shabaks and Turkmen who lived for centuries in one of the most diverse parts of the Middle East. Hundreds of Yazidi women and girls have been captured, raped and tortured, and forced to convert to Islam and marry Islamic State followers, according

What Iraq needs to do to protect minorities

The alliance of Iraq’s minorities is a step to prevent Iraq from being totally stripped of its minorities.

A Kurdish flag is seen as a member of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces stands guard at a security point on Bashiqa mountain, overlooking Islamic State held territories of Mosul, 12 km northeast of Mosul City, March 7, 2015. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR4SF4S

Turkey’s joint front with Sunni Arabs, Kurds

Ankara is developing a joint front with the Sunni Arabs and Kurds, and refuses to withdraw its troops from the Mosul area.

Riot police stand in front of protesters during a demonstration against Turkish military deployment in Iraq, in Najaf, Iraq, December 12, 2015. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani - RTX1YDSC

Turkey misfires in Iraq

Turkey’s military deployment near Mosul provokes widespread opposition and sends Russia-Turkey ties into a further downward spiral; Turkey’s Kurds face "unrealistic prospect" for democracy; Barzani on the spot as a result of KRG alignment with Turkey; Russia slams Saudi hosting of Syrian opposition.

Are Turkey and Iran reviving a 16th century conflict?

Turkey's Iraq policy can be traced back to its rivalry with Iran in Mesopotamia centuries ago.

With the Islamic State gone from Sinjar, Kurdish groups battle for control

After Sinjar was liberated from the Islamic State, a new conflict arose among Kurdish parties as to who should administer the area.

Kurdish peshmerga take part in a training session during German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen's visit at a camp in Banslawa in Arbil, north of Baghdad, October 27, 2015. German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said that the government will look into sending more weapons to Peshmerga fighting Islamic State in Iraq. Von der Leyen has been in Iraq since late, she also paid a visit to a camp in Banslawa where German soldiers are currently training around 30 young Kurdish fighters. REUTERS/Azad lash

House panel approves peshmerga bill that Baghdad deems 'unwise and unnecessary'

The House Foreign Affairs panel voted to directly arm Kurdish forces.

Turkish soldiers in a tank and an armored vehicle patrol on the road to the town of Beytussebab in the southeastern Sirnak province, Turkey, September 28, 2015. Five children were wounded on Monday when a bomb tore through a street in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir, hospital officials said, where deadly clashes in recent weeks have followed the collapse of ceasefire by Kurdish militants. A separate blast in the town of Tatvan wounded five soldiers when their vehicle passed over an explosive left in a ditch

Ankara's Mosul miscalculation

Even Turkmens are unhappy with Turkey’s moves in Mosul, and Ankara may have made a serious misjudgment.

Shi'ite fighters, known as Hashid Shaabi, clash with Islamic State militants, as one tries to put a Shi'ite flag in the ground, in northern Tikrit, March 12, 2015. Iraqi security forces and mainly Shi'ite militia fought Islamic State fighters in Tikrit on Thursday, a day after they pushed into Saddam Hussein's home city in their biggest offensive yet against the militants. Picture taken March 12, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4T6WJ

Iraq's war of flags

A struggle over flags has emerged in Iraq, where the various forces fighting the Islamic State seek to promote their own identities and are desecrating the symbols of rival groups.

Iraqi security forces stand guard with their military vehicle outside the Turkish embassy in Baghdad December 8 2015. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily - RTX1XPHA

Why is Turkey stirring the Iraqi cauldron?

The wisdom and real motives of Turkey dispatching troops to northern Iraq is a topic of hot debate.