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Iraq

July 10, 2026

Baghdad 2:15 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

Members of the Turkish police counter attack team guarding President Tayyip Erdogan stand in front of a mosque after the President left following Friday prayers in Istanbul, Turkey, May 29, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTR4Y0MZ

Ankara cracks down on IS; but is it too little too late?

Turkey has recently moved to counter Islamic State recruitment in the country, but it faces a difficult time reintegrating jihadist returnees from Syria and Iraq, some of whom have been traumatized by their experiences.

A black flag belonging to Islamic State is seen near the Syrian town of Kobani as a Turkish army vehicle takes up position on the Turkish-Syrian border near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province October 7, 2014. Islamic State fighters advanced into the south west of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani overnight, a monitoring group said on Tuesday, taking several buildings to gain attacking positions from two sides of the city. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY CONFLICT

Is the Islamic State really a terrorist group? Turkey's lawyers don't think so

Turkish security services have only recently began to consider the Islamic State (IS) as a security threat, but the legal system in Turkey still does not recognize IS as a terrorist organization.

The stakes in Vienna

Fragile and promising trends in regional security and US-Iran cooperation are already underway as a result of the nuclear negotiations.

Sunni fighters who have joined Shi'ite militia groups known collectively as Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization), who are allied with Iraqi forces against the Islamic State, gesture with their weapons in al-Alam Salahuddin province March 17, 2015. Iraq paused its Tikrit offensive on Monday and officials called for more air strikes against Islamic State militants, while an officer said Kurdish forces sustained two more chlorine gas attacks by insurgents. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL

Why Iraq needs to depoliticize their Popular Mobilization Units

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units are made up of several groups whose political interests differ, clashing sometimes, which is causing the units to shift focus from the most urgent need — fighting the Islamic State.

Iraqi Vice President Nuri al-Maliki (C) speaks with Hamid al-Jazaeiri (R), Deputy Commander General of Saraya al-Khorasani, at a ceremony honouring fighters of the group who died during their fight against the Islamic State, in Baghdad February 21, 2015. Families, military personnel and delegates attended the event in Baghdad to honour fighters of the Iraqi Shi'ite militia group formed in 2013 in response to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's call to fight Sunni jihadists in Syria and later in

Is Maliki making a comeback?

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is being criticized for sowing sectarianism and using animosity among various Iraqi factions as a way to find a way back to power.

Chechen soldiers, representing Russia and wearing uniforms stitched with Chechen flags, compete in the 7th Annual Warrior Competition at the King Abdullah Special Operations Training Center in Amman April 22, 2015. Thirty-eight teams from 18 countries are participating in the competition to test their military skills. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTX19UI0

Russia's Middle East gamble

Russia's historical links with the Middle East run deep, as even amidst challenges Moscow sees opportunities.

A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter takes up position with his weapon as he keeps watch, on the outskirts of Mosul January 26, 2015. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are digging trenches and building defense berms in Wadi al-Ghorab (Valley Of The Crows), less than 2 km away from the IS-held Sultan Abdullah village, which demarcates the new border of their autonomous region. The Kurds have enjoyed de facto self rule since the first Gulf War in 1991. They are now closer than ever to achieving their dream of full independen

Who has 'boots on the ground' in fight against IS?

A mismatch in priorities between the United States and its Sunni allies is obliging the Obama administration to rely more on Iran-backed forces to fight the group that calls itself the Islamic State.

Sunni worshippers attend prayers during Eid al-Fitr as they mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, at a Sunni mosque in Baghdad July 28, 2014. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ - Tags: RELIGION) - RTR40CC0

Sunnis, Shiites show unity in Najaf

While the news headlines scream of sectarian violence, many everyday Iraqis tell a different story of cohesion and solidarity in cities where the displaced have gathered.

Coffins of victims killed in air strikes are carried by villagers during a funeral ceremony in Gulyazi near the southeastern Turkish town of Uludere, in Sirnak province, December 30, 2011. Turkish rights groups called on Friday for a U.N.-sponsored investigation after Turkish warplanes killed 35 villagers in an airstrike targeting Kurdish rebels on the Iraqi border that the government has called an operational mistake. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2VQMB

Turkey shuts down smugglers by shooting mules

The tension in villages of Uludere in Turkey that lost 34 people in an airstrike by the Turkish air force three years ago persists and frequently develops into confrontations with Turkish soldiers.

An Iraqi man and a child ride a small motorcycle through the streets of Baghdad on February 20, 2008. Moqtada al-Sadr's six-month freeze on attacks by his Mahdi Army has strengthened his hand and allowed him to purge dissidents from the ranks of the militia, analysts and aides of the Shiite cleric said. Sadr, long a thorn in the side of US-led forces in Iraq, is expected to announce on February 22, 2008 whether he will renew his unilateral ceasefire, set to expire the day after. AFP PHOTO/PATRICK BAZ (Photo

Forget Uber, Iraqis strap into satoutas

Struggling to make ends meet, Iraqis have innovated a new means to transport goods and people for little money, which has been competing with taxi drivers.

Turkish military wary of Erdogan plan for Syrian buffer zone

The United States remains opposed to a no-fly zone in northern Syria; Masrour Barzani calls for "amicable divorce" for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; Jacky Hugi writes that Israel should back the Syrian government "at any price."

Kurdish peshmerga forces take part in a training session at a training camp on the outskirts of Dohuk province April 7, 2015. The coalition forces were training Kurdish peshmerga soldiers on how to fight in street battles. REUTERS/Ari Jalal - RTR4WE6F

New units step toward reforming Kurdish peshmerga

Some Kurdish officials are hopeful that new peshmerga brigades will be immune to politicization.