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

Iran cover image

Iraq

July 10, 2026

Baghdad 1:26 am

35°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

U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins speaks during a news conference in New Delhi June 27, 2013. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal (INDIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX112Q6

Veteran US diplomat: After Iran deal, focus on Syria

US diplomat James Dobbins shared his thoughts on what is next for the US and Iran, and what the recent agreement means for further collaboration in the region.

What Iraq needs to survive

Social disintegration and other issues facing Iraq require a nationwide reform campaign.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki during a joint news conference in Baghdad November 30, 2011. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq opened a new phase in relations between the two countries, including a robust security partnership. REUTERS/Saad Shalash (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTR2UN9O

Lobbying 2014: Podesta plays matchmaker for estranged US, Iraq

The United States and Iraq find themselves in intensive couples counseling as they try to save a failing marriage of convenience that could hold the key to defeating the biggest terrorist threat since al-Qaeda.

People stand on the steps of the Ziggurat of Ur ruins near Nassiriya, 300 km (186 miles) southeast of Baghdad, January 23, 2014. Ur's palaces and temples lie in ruins, but its hulking Ziggurat still dominates the desert flatlands of what is now southern Iraq, as it has for millennia. British archaeologists are now back in the area despite the insecurity in Iraq that had kept them - and all but the most adventurous tourists - away from one of the world's oldest cities. Picture taken January 23, 2014. To matc

Archaeological excavations in Iraq continue despite security chaos

In spite of the precarious situation in Iraq, a series of excavations is still uncovering the buried historical ruins in Iraq, where the ruins of Ur are only a sample of the landmarks that are yet to be unveiled.

Iraqi Shiite Muslim men from Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) march during a parade marking the annual al-Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Baghdad, July 10, 2015. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani - RTX1JVWP

Are Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units heroes or villains?

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units are facing criticism while the fighters' political role continues to evolve.

Iraqis shop at the Shorja market, the main stockpile central in Baghdad on August 30, 2008, as households prepare for the Muslim holy month or Ramadan. Iraqi women and men once fearful of shopping here are more confident since the improvement in security around the capital. Muslims around the world are gearing up for the holy month of Ramadan which commences on Sept 01. For the duration of the lunar month, Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink and sex from dusk till dawn as life slips into a lowe

The secret world of Baghdad's sex toy shops

Iraqi citizens and the central government are outraged by the spread of sexual products in popular markets across the country.

Iraq's Shi'ite paramilitaries and members of Iraqi security forces gather at North of Fallujah in province of Anbar, July 6, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX1JB2Y

Fallujah liberation key to securing Anbar

The Iraqi government’s announcement of the Anbar battle will allow the Iraqi forces to liberate Fallujah, and then Ramadi, as long as they are not trapped in the war of attrition waged by the Islamic State.

Residents gather at the Shabandar Cafe in Baghdad's Mutanabi street April 5, 2011. Reading books, buying books and discussing books are the defining pleasures of being a Baghdad intellectual, and for generations the life of the mind has orbited around this lane, the booksellers' market of the Iraqi capital. Four years ago, in a blow felt deeply by Iraq's intelligentsia, a car bomb killed 26 people here. Now, the street is again open, guarded and seemingly safe, and jammed every Friday with students, profess

Iraqi writer brings Persian literature to Arab world

Ghassan Hamdan bridges the Iranian-Arab divide with his translations of Persian literature into Arabic.

Iraqi Finance Minister Hoshiyar Zebari speaks during a news conference in Baghdad July 12, 2015. Iraq and the World Bank signed a $350 million loan agreement on Sunday to fund emergency reconstruction in towns recaptured from Islamic State militants, a deal Baghdad said marked the first international help to rebuild areas devastated by war. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily

- RTX1K31J

Iraq’s banks refuse to ante up amid liquidity shortage

Private banks in Iraq are facing a liquidity crisis that has led to limiting allowed withdrawals, much to the dissatisfaction of citizens.

A municipality worker sweeps the ground at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad July 13, 2015. Car bombs and suicide attacks targeting mainly Shi'ite Muslim districts of Baghdad killed 35 people on Sunday, one of the heaviest recent tolls in the Iraqi capital, which has faced a wave of bombings by Islamic State militants. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily

- RTX1K6JG

Terrorists turn month of peace into time for war

The holy month of Ramadan is considered a month of martyrdom and jihad for extremist organizations such as the Islamic State, which during this time recall the battles fought by Muslims throughout history.

An electrician uses an Avometer to check wires connected to his local generator on a street in Baghdad, December 13, 2011. Iraq's financial system is slowly embracing the free market after years of tight control under Saddam; a fledging stock market is attracting foreign money while the banking and telecommunications industries are growing rapidly. But the national grid provides only a few hours of intermittent power a day, forcing Iraqis to live off noisy diesel-fueled generators. Picture taken December 13

Never-ending electricity crisis means lights out for Iraqis, again

Power outages have become a commonplace happening in Iraq, where people now depend on more than one source to substitute for the government’s poor services.

President George H.W. Bush is surrounded by a sea of U.S. military personnel as he greets troops following an arrival ceremony in the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Dhahran November 22, 1990. Bush celebrates Thanksgiving Day with U.S. troops from all branches of the military deployed here after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Reuters/Terry Bochatey ( SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE - RTR2ZNUI

25 years later: Did Kuwait invasion doom Iraq?

This week marks the 25th anniversary of the start of the 1990 Kuwait crisis, which played a decisive role in altering the region.