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

Iran cover image

Iraq

September 6, 2026

Baghdad 2:44 pm

44°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

Radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (R) attends the funeral of fighters loyal to his Brigades of Peace, who were killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near the town of Amerli, in Najaf, south of Baghdad September 3, 2014. REUTERS/ Alaa Al-Marjani (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR44SOC

Anbar province calls for support to fight Islamic State

The government in Anbar province is voicing concern about the progress of the Islamic State in several cities, calling for a quick solution to prevent the province from falling to the militants.

A fighter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) stands guard with his weapon by the side of a street in the city of Mosul, June 23, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held crisis talks with leaders of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Tuesday urging them to stand with Baghdad in the face of a Sunni insurgent onslaught that threatens to dismember the country. Picture taken June 23, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR3VIH0

Islamic State tightens noose around Iraq, Syria

The Islamic State is tightening control over the regions it captured in Iraq in an attempt to consolidate its power.

Islamic State intelligence network stifles resistance

Terrorist group reportedly uses Saddam-era intelligence officers and tactics; Syria’s Alawites seek accountability from government; Syrian army advances around Hama; Temple Mount as flash point; Egyptian campaign against terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula makes life harder for residents of the Gaza Strip.

A man waves a Kurdistan flag as a Turkish military truck escorts a convoy of peshmerga vehicles at Habur border gate, which separates Turkey from Iraq, near the town of Silopi in southeastern Turkey, October 29, 2014. Iraqi peshmerga fighters arrived in southeastern Turkey early on Wednesday ahead of their planned deployment to the Syrian town of Kobani to help fellow Kurds repel an Islamic State advance, a Reuters witness said. REUTERS/Kadir Baris (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF TH

Turkish military angered by Ankara’s peshmerga move

The Turkish military is said to be riled and to have informed the government of its opposition to seeing Iraqi Kurdish fighters in Turkey.

Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi Army to fight against predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), carry weapons during a parade in the streets in Al-Fdhiliya district, eastern Baghdad June 15, 2014. The insurgent offensive that has threatened to dismember Iraq spread to the northwest of the country on Sunday, when Sunni militants launched a dawn raid on a town close to the Syrian border, clashing with police and government forces. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Suda

Iraqi weapons trade thrives

The weapons trade in Iraq has become widespread in light of the escalation of the war against the Islamic State, and an increasing number of Iraqis possess guns for personal use.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attends the opening of a meeting of foreign ministers at the Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, May 4, 2014. Foreign ministers of major refugee hosting countries attended a one-day meeting in the Zaatari refugee camp to discuss a resolution for the Syrian refugee crisis. The meeting - the third for countries harbouring the largest number of Syrian refugees - brought together Foreign Ministers from Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt,

Turkey finds out one is the loneliest number

The regional and global loneliness Ankara dragged itself into with its foreign policy since 2009 is becoming hazardous with the threat from the Islamic State.

Shi'ite fighters pose with a black flag belonging to the Islamic State, which they pulled down after capturing the town of Jurf al-Sakhar from the Islamic State militants, south of Baghdad October 26, 2014. Picture taken October 26, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4BQ6H

Iraqi battle seen as key victory in Iran

The battle in Jurf al-Sakhar was portrayed by a number of conservative Iranian media outlets as key to forcing the Islamic State into retreat and eventually taking back Anbar province.

A member of the Iraqi security forces stands guard at a checkpoint during an intensive security deployment in Baghdad, June 16, 2014. The United States is contemplating talks with its arch-enemy Iran to support the Iraqi government in its battle with Sunni Islamist insurgents who routed Baghdad's army and seized the north of the country in the past week. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR3U2D3

Islamic State fears hang over Baghdad

The Islamic State’s advance toward Baghdad is causing stress and confusion among residents, though government forces are maintaining a tight grip on the capital.

A couple walks on a bridge covered with padlocks hung by lovers in Basra, October 21, 2014. The idea was inspired by snapshots of Paris' Pont des Arts taken by a young Basra man on a visit to France, and was immediately embraced by the group of friends. Within a week, the men had received permission and turned one of the cities' old bridges which crosses over the Shatt-al-Arab waterway into Basra's own "Bridge of Love". REUTERS/ Essam Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR4B10I

Iraqis show their love on bridges

The love padlocks on Pont Des Arts in Paris has inspired young Iraqis to show love for their sweethearts with padlocks on bridges, but not everyone approves.

What does Hezbollah mean by 'painful concessions' in Syria?

UN Syria envoy meets Hezbollah official; Erdogan sets back Turkey-Iran ties and points out US "mistake"; Israel seeks to suppress "silent intifada" in Jerusalem.

Students attend a class on the first day of the new school term in Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) south of Baghdad, September 24, 2013. REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed (IRAQ - Tags: EDUCATION SOCIETY) - RTX13Y2I

Religious reforms imposed in Iraqi schools, universities

Protests erupted in Iraq following a decision to impose gender segregation in schools and universities.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) speaks with Turkish officials while meeting Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran December 3, 2006. REUTERS/ISNA (IRAN) - RTR1K0EK

Iranian-Turkish relations strained over Syrian agendas

Turkey's desired outcome in Syria would result in massively scaling back Iran's influence in the region, with Tehran losing its ally in Damascus, Hezbollah confined to Lebanon and Iraq threatened.