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Iraq

July 13, 2026

Baghdad 1:30 am

36°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

Sparrows sit on crosses at St. Matthew's monastery on Mount Maqloub, northeast of Mosul in Northern Iraq, some 400 km northwest of Baghdad January 7, 2004. [The Assyrian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated today with reference to the Julian calendar, which has a difference of two weeks to the Gregorian calendar.] - RTXMDTW

Iraq's Assyrian Christians fear ISIS threat to heritage

Assyrian Christian community leaders tell Al-Monitor that the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has not yet destroyed ancient Assyrian and Christian artifacts in Mosul.

Mehdi Army fighters loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stand during a military-style training in Najaf June 20, 2014. Iraqi forces were massing north of Baghdad on Friday, aiming to strike back at Sunni Islamists whose drive toward the capital prompted the United States to send military advisers to stiffen government resistance. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3UW3C

Did Shiite fatwa save Baghdad from 'Islamic State'?

Iraqi Shiites have rallied to defend the capital from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), with few visible signs of Iranian fighters.

Jordan boosts military presence on Iraq border

Jordanian officials say they can thwart any jihadist advance from Iraq.

A map of the Kurdistan region is seen on the wall of a school where a Christian family who fled from the violence in Mosul two days ago, is staying in Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region June 27, 2014. Iraqi forces launched an airborne assault on rebel-held Tikrit on Thursday with commandos flown into a stadium in helicopters, at least one of which crashed after taking fire from insurgents who have seized northern cities. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT SOCIETY) - RTR3W0Y0

Would Turkey accept a Kurdish state?

As the likelihood of an independent Kurdish state on Turkey’s eastern border grows, Ankara is losing its historical resistance to the idea.

Members of the Iraqi security forces fire artillery during the clashes with the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the town of Dalli Abbas in Diyala province, June 28, 2014. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the most influential Shi'ite cleric in Iraq, called on the country's leaders on Friday to choose a prime minister within the next four days, a dramatic political intervention that could hasten the end of Nuri al-Maliki's eight year rule. Picture take

The Syria disconnect in US Iraq policy

Iraq welcomes Syrian airstrikes on ISIS; Aleppo’s water crisis.

Russian soldiers unload a Russian Sukhoi SU-25 plane in al-Muthanna Iraqi military base at Baghdad airport in Baghdad, June 28, 2014. The first batch of Russian fighter jets arrived in Baghdad on Saturday to help Iraqi forces battle Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters in the country's north. Picture taken June 28, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY TRANSPORT CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR3W9NZ

Russia's military bid in Iraq

Moscow has seized an opening by delivering fighter jets to Iraq.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of the parliament of his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara on June 24, 2014. AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Erdogan: 'No one should expect me to provoke ISIS'

Turkey pursues a cautious policy while Iraq's military crisis escalates.

Iraq’s ambassador to US: war with ISIS 'acid test' of US-Iraq ties

Lukman Faily, Iraq’s ambassador to the United States, says that in light of the urgency of the Iraq crisis, “we will not be in a position to choose our partners and whoever is available to help us in our survival war, then we will take that.”

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, April 20, 2014. For Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, a politician who saw himself as the one who rescued Iraq from civil war in the last decade, the current state of affairs amounts to a stunning reversal of fortune as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters inch towards the capital and Shiite militias he vanquished assert their influence again. Picture taken April 20, 2014. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ

Allawi: US policy toward Iraq 'without a compass'

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi says that the Iraqi army "has lost its identity and its role" as a result of the current Iraqi government's policies.

A woman buys bread at a bakery in the city of Mosul, June 24, 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 24, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT BUSINESS FOOD SOCIETY) - RTR3VNJJ

Iraqis fear uncertain future in areas under 'Islamic State'

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is not the only group operating in regions now under its banner.

A Jordanian police stands guard at a checkpoint near the Jordanian Karameh border crossing at the Jordanian-Iraqi border, near Ruweished city, June 25, 2014. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3VOZ6

Jordan shaken by threats from ISIS, Iraq, Syria

The kingdom faces a security crisis over conflicts involving neighboring Iraq and Syria, a jihadist enclave on its border, waves of refugees, and returning terrorist fighters from both countries.

Iraqi Sunni Muslims take part in an anti-government demonstration in Ramadi, 100 km (62 miles) west of Baghdad,April 19, 2013. Thousands of Sunni Muslims protested after Friday prayers in huge rallies against Shi'ite Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, demanding that he step down. REUTERS/Ali al-Mashhadani (IRAQ - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXYSEV

Saudi Arabia sees allies among Iraq's Sunni tribes

The kingdom is distinguishing between Sunni tribes opposed to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and terrorist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).