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Iraq

July 12, 2026

Baghdad 5:55 pm

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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

Nuri al-Maliki (C), acting Defence Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi (2nd R) and Lieutenant General Abboud Qanbar (L) attend the funeral ceremony of Gen. Majid Abdul Salam, at the defence ministry in Baghdad August 13, 2014. Gen. Majid Abdul Salam was the pilot of the Iraqi army helicopter carrying aid and evacuating displaced members of the Yazidi minority in northern Iraq that crashed on Tuesday, in an accident that also wounded passengers, a government spokesman said. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNRE

The collapse of Maliki’s party

Outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has failed to keep his party and coalition together, through his nondemocratic approaches, while the new Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi vowed to preserve the national consensus.

A militant Islamist fighter uses a mobile to film his fellow fighters taking part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq, a monitoring service said. The Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot previously known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), posted pictures online on Sunday of people waving black flags from

The Islamic State's social media strategy

The Islamic State is using social and other media to recruit followers and scare its enemies into submission.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Tammam Salam (L) shakes hands with former Lebanese prime minister Saad al-Hariri upon his arrival at the government's headquarters in Beirut August 8, 2014. Hariri arrived back in Lebanon on Friday for the first time in three years, a visit seen as reasserting his leadership over the Sunni community after a deadly incursion by Islamist militants in the northeast. REUTERS/Georges Farah (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR41O2O

Could Maliki's departure spur Lebanon’s presidential election?

Many Lebanese are looking for signs that the departure of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Iraq will lead to progress in Lebanon's presidential race, but diplomatic sources are quick to downplay any such hopes.

Iraqi Shi'ite youths smoke water pipes at an outdoor cafe in Sadr City in Baghdad April 29, 2014. Iraq is now gripped by its worst violence since the heights of its 2005-2008 sectarian war, and Sunni Islamist insurgents who target Shi'ites have been regaining ground in the country over the past year. But despite the instability, daily life continues in poor Shi'ite neighbourhoods of Baghdad such as Al-Fdhiliya and Sadr City - a sprawling slum marred by poor infrastructure and overcrowding. REUTERS/Ahmed Ja

What do Iraqis want from their leaders?

What do Iraqis look for in a leader? Unsurprisingly, security, low corruption and development top many people's lists.

A burnt vehicle belonging to Iraqi security forces is pictured at a checkpoint in east Mosul, one day after radical Sunni Muslim insurgents seized control of the city, June 11, 2014. Sunni insurgents from an al Qaeda splinter group extended their control from the northern city of Mosul on Wednesday to an area further south that includes Iraq's biggest oil refinery in a devastating show of strength against the Shi'ite-led government. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Can Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE form Arab security alliance?

With the Islamic State (IS) out to change the regional order, Gulf states ought to establish a security alliance to prevent this from happening.

Iraq's Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi smiles during a meeting German's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Baghdad August 16, 2014. Steinmeier arrived in Baghdad on Saturday for talks with Iraqi officials on what could be done to help the country in its fight against insurgents of the Islamic State. REUTERS/Hadi Mizban/Pool (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR42MV6

Iraqi prime minister’s task not an easy one

Amid the security, political and social unrest, the tasks of Iraq’s prime minister-designate, Haider al-Abadi, will be hindered if the people do not unite.

The Armenian St. Kevork Church (Saint George) is seen in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on October 30, 2012, after it was burnt during fighting between rebel fighters and Syrian government forces. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Aleppo's Christians in Syrian crossfire

Christians in Aleppo fear an uncertain fate; Iran’s decisive role in the appointment of Haider al-Abadi as Iraqi prime minister-designate; battle for Arsal may not be over yet; Netanyahu is Israel’s "weakest prime minister" ever; lobbying profiles of Gulf countries to be released.

$Iraqi newly elected parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi (C) stands between his deputies Haidar Al Abadi (L) and Aram Sheikh Mohamad (R) in Baghdad on July 15, 2014. Iraq's fractious parliament elected a speaker after two failed sittings, with al-Juburi winning comfortably according to a tally announced live on state television. The much-delayed election kickstarts a political process which should also see lawmakers agree on a federal president, who then designates the largest bloc, the candidate of which has$

How Haider al-Abadi became Iraq's next prime minister

Iranian officials helped lay the groundwork for the appointment of Iraq's new prime minister-designate.

Iraqi Christians displaced by the violence in their country wait in line to receive aid from a Chaldean Catholic Church truck in Beirut August 13, 2014. Well financed and armed, Islamic State insurgents have captured large swathes of territory in a summer offensive, as the Iraqi army - and now Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the self-governing north - have crumbled in the face of its onslaught, massacring Shi'ites and minority Christians and Yazidis as they advance. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLI

Lebanon a safe haven but Middle Eastern Christians still at risk

The arrival of Iraqi Christians in Lebanon is significant, as the country has historically been considered a safe haven for Christians in the Levant, and requires considerable diplomatic support from religious and political authorities in the region.

Firefighters inspect a market destroyed after an attack by Iraq security force helicopters in Ramadi, June 8, 2014. More than 420,000 people have already escaped the two main cities of western Anbar province, Falluja and Ramadi, in fighting since the start of the year. REUTERS/ Ali al-Mashhadani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY MILITARY) - RTR3SS3E

Barrel bombs pummel Anbar

Analysts say the Iraqi government is pursuing a scorched-earth policy, using barrel bombs to regain control of cities it lost to terrorist organizations.

An Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighter poses for a picture on the front line in Makhmur, about 280 kilometres (175 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, during clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants on August 9, 2014. Makhmur, is one of the areas that had been attacked by jihadist fighters in recent days. AFP PHOTO/SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)

Iraqi Kurds accuse local Arabs of supporting IS

Iraqi Kurds say many local Arabs aided the Islamic State in their recent offensives against Kurdish forces.

A militant Islamist fighter waving a flag, cheers as he takes part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq, a monitoring service said. The Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot previously known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), posted pictures online on Sunday of people waving black flags from cars and holdi

IS emerges from radical Islamic jurisprudence

The Islamic State and other radical groups found their religious underpinnings in the heart of Islamic teachings.