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

Iran cover image

Iraq

September 6, 2026

Baghdad 12:48 pm

43°C

A man walks past a mural depicting oil pumps and the Venezuelan flag, with portraits of Venezuelan independence leader Simon Bolivar (L) and former late President Hugo Chavez (R), in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sept. 3, 2026.

Analysis

Could Trump’s oil push in Venezuela upend OPEC’s energy order?

Washington’s growing role in controlling the Latin American country's crude riches could help reshape an energy order centered on OPEC as the Hormuz crisis pressures Gulf exports.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

After gun found in lake, French police probe link to 2012 Iraqi family murder

A recently discovered Luger pistol may have been used in the mysterious 2012 killing of the al-Hilli family near the Alpine town of Chevaline in eastern France.

AFP via Getty Images

Iraq sentences kidnapper of US journalist Shelly Kittleson to 15 years: What to know

The first sentencing in relation to Shelly Kittleson’s abduction comes as Iraq moves to rein in Iran-backed militias.

Iraqi army troops patrol the Iraq-Saudi Arabia border

Iraq reinforces Saudi border security amid militia tensions: What to know

Iraq is sending the reinforcements in response to Iran-backed militia attacks and as it looks to build security ties with Riyadh.

Latest News

Iraq summons Iran envoy over 'Persian Gulf' post, Baghdad name origins: What to know

Fred TANNEAU / AFP via Getty Images

Exclusive

Iraq's Zaidi set to make European debut with Macron in France

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi delivers a speech in Baghdad, May 16, 2026.

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

An Iraqi Christian refugee girl holds a souvenir of the Holy Family as a boy looks on at a church in Hazmiyeh, near Beirut December 12, 2014. Christian leaders led the service for around 600 Iraqi Christian refugees, many of them children and the elderly. Iraqi Christians who sought refuge in Lebanon after Islamist militants tore through their homeland said they had no idea when they would be able to return as they gathered for prayers ahead of Christmas. Picture taken December 12, 2014. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi

Lebanese church struggles to support Iraqi refugees

The Chaldean church in Hazmiyeh, Lebanon, is doing all it can to help Iraqi Christian refugees flooding into the country.

Iraqi Christians find safe haven in Jordan’s churches

Many Iraqi Christian refugees have given up on the Middle East and refuse to ever go back to Iraq, even if the Islamic State is completely annihilated.

Iraqis walk past a traditional building in the oldest alley of the capital Baghdad on December 13, 2013. Baghdad was once the capital of an empire and the centre of the Islamic world, but at 1,250 years old, the Iraqi city is a far cry from its past glories after being ravaged by years of war and sanctions. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

Iraqis struggle to maintain architectural heritage

Iraq’s historical landmarks are being destroyed and replaced by modern structures, as the government and municipalities fail to adopt measures that protect the country’s architectural heritage.

Iraqi policemen dig trenches at checkpoint in the Iraqi town of Taji, at the entrance of Baghdad, on June 13, 2014, as security forces are bolstering defenses in the capital. Jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants pushed towards the capital and US President Barack Obama said he was exploring all options to save Iraq's security forces from collapse. AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

Iraqis split over digging of security trenches

While some Iraqis argue that digging trenches between cities is an effective way to stop the infiltration of militants and achieve security, others claim they only further divide the nation and promote sectarianism.

An Iraqi woman walks past a giant poster showing Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad on February 05, 2015. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has ordered an end to a years-old nightly curfew in the Iraqi capital in a bid to ease restrictions on daily life despite persistent violence, officials said. The army and police checkpoints across Baghdad cause massive traffic jams that are a major source of irritation for Iraqis and often follow lax security procedures

Iran gathers power in Iraq as US further sidelined

Iran has succeeded in expanding its influence in Iraq by supporting the Shiite paramilitary forces there, a move that the United States has avoided since 2003.

Shi'ite fighters from Hashid Shaabi forces walk with their weapons at the front line at the Shi'ite Turkman village of Bashir, 20km south of Kirkuk, March 14, 2015. Kurdish peshmerga forces, backed by Shi'ite militia fighters, have been attacking Islamic State-held towns and villages south and west of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, peshmerga sources said. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4TCDN

What next for Iraq?

The Islamic State may be routed in Iraq, but the question of what is next remains unanswered.

Shi'ite fighters from Hashid Shaabi forces launch a rocket during clashes with Islamic State militants on the front line at the Shi'ite Turkman village of Bashir, 20km south of Kirkuk, March 14, 2015. Kurdish peshmerga forces, backed by Shi'ite militia fighters, have been attacking Islamic State-held towns and villages south and west of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, peshmerga sources said. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4TCBR

Iraq’s Shiite forces claim victory over IS

Sheikh Akram al-Kaabi, the leader of Hezbollah al-Nujaba, a major Iraqi Shiite resistance movement fighting IS, tells Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview that his group will target US planes if they get near his forces.

Visitors look at Assyrian mural sculptures from Khorsabad, at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad March 8, 2015. Islamic State militants have desecrated another ancient Iraqi capital, the government said on March 11, 2015, razing parts of the 2,700-year-old city of Khorsabad famed for its colossal statues of human-headed winged bulls. Picture taken March 8, 2015. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily (IRAQ - Tags: SOCIETY CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4SZAO

Islamic State erases centuries of history

According to a sociology professor, extremist groups such as the Islamic State seek to return society to the early Middle Ages, when little to no art, science and culture existed.

Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters and foreign fighters (R) who joined the YPG, man their weapons during what the YPG said was an offensive against them by Islamic State fighters, in the western countryside of Ras al-Ain March 10, 2015. Picture taken March 10, 2015. REUTERS/Rodi Said (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTR4SVQX

US 'working through' extent of support for Syrian rebels

The resolution being considered by Congress does not address protection of vetted Syrian rebels against Syrian government forces; nuclear talks with Iran enter decisive phase amid challenges by Republicans in Congress; Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani determines fate of reconciliation in Iraq; Israeli election is verdict on Benjamin Netanyahu.

Volunteers to fight the Islamic State, from different Iraqi factions including Kurdish and Yazidis, train at a camping area near Kurdish security points on Bashiqa mountain, around 15km Northeast of the Islamic State held city of Mosul, March 7, 2015. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4SFUI

Mosul residents prepare for battle

The Islamic State plans to use Mosul's 1.5 million residents as a human shield in its inevitable battle against the Iraqi army and international forces.

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) - RTR4SF1J

Turkey to support Mosul operation from sidelines

Turkey will provide assistance to the forces organizing to retake Mosul from the Islamic State, but will not engage directly in military conflict.

TO GO WITH STORY BY ARTHUR MACMILLAN
A Bangladeshi worker cleans a table at a Baghdad restaurant on April 04, 2009. Bangladeshis seeking to escape poverty back home have high hopes Baghdad will offer hard cash and prospects for a better life.
AFP PHOTO / ALI YUSSEF (Photo credit should read ALI YUSSEF/AFP/Getty Images)

Iraq's illegal employment agencies

Unregistered recruitment agencies in Iraq bring Asian laborers to work long hours and for wages lower than what Iraqis demand.