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Iraq

July 14, 2026

Baghdad 4:19 pm

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Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at a Council of Ministers meeting in Baghdad on July 11, 2026.

Analysis

On first foreign trip, Iraqi PM Zaidi woos Trump but Iran casts long shadow

Iraq's new prime minister is in Washington promising business deals and closer ties with the United States, but convincing the Trump administration he can rein in Iran-backed militias may prove his toughest challenge.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Latest News

Here's what to know about Iraq's corruption as Zaidi launches crackdown

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Iraqi PM’s anti-corruption drive comes as US pressure mounts on Iran-backed militias

aqi security personnel patrol in a vehicle along a street in Baghdad on June 28, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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.

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

Civilians look at the bodies of victims of an attack in the village of Mwafaqiya, in Nineveh province, October 17, 2013. A suicide bomber driving a truck packed with explosives blew himself up in a village in northern Iraq, killing at least 11 people early on Thursday, police said. The attack targeted members of Iraq's predominantly Shi'ite Shabak minority in the village of Mwafaqiya in Nineveh province. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX14F5M

Syria Crisis Sidelines Iraq

While the world focuses on Syria, Iraq endures daily carnage and a security situation that is spiraling out of control.

Flags of the al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant are hung on The Martyrs Church in Raqqa city centre September 27, 2013. The Al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant removed crosses from The Martyrs Church in Raqqa and hoisted their flags on Thursday, activists say. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: RELIGION CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX14223

Jihadist Websites Linked to Syria Thriving on Internet

The rise of Islamist groups in Syria’s civil war has shed light on the proliferation of extremist ideologies and communication via discrete Internet networks.

Policemen operate a checkpoint in Baghdad October 17, 2011. As U.S. troops prepare to withdraw from Iraq, Baghdad security officials believe Iraqi forces are now more capable of containing violence, and plan to steadily cut back on checkpoints by around 50 percent and remove the blast walls in the city by the beginning of next year before reviewing the security situation again. Picture taken October 17, 2011. To match feature IRAQ-BAGHDAD/ REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST

Iraq: Tinted Cars and Ghost-like Officials

Iraqi officials and influential figures often distance themselves from average citizens, hiding behind tinted car windows and under the protection of extensive security details.

A Kurdish female fighter from the Popular Protection Units (YPG) carries a walkie-talkie as she stands near fellow fighters carrying their weapons and using binoculars in the Kurdish town of Ifrin, in Aleppo's countryside October 14, 2013. Kurds comprise around 10 percent of Syria's 23 million population. They are concentrated in Ifrin and other areas of the northwest, in parts of Damascus and in the northeastern oil producing area of Qamishli, where there has also been intense fighting between Kurds and al

Syrian Kurds Beset by Divisions

Syrian Kurds are resisting efforts by Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani to exert influence over their movement.

Kurdish security forces react after a bomb attack in the city of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, September 29, 2013. Six people were killed on Sunday in a series of explosions outside a security directorate in the capital of Iraq's usually peaceful autonomous Kurdistan region, security and medical sources said. Gunfire could be heard after the blasts in Arbil that wounded a further 36 people, according to the city's health directorate. The vi

KRG Responds to Article On Terrorist Bombing in Erbil

In a letter to the editor, a director in the office of the Kurdistan Regional Government's Representation to the US, Karwan Zebari, responds to Denise Natali's Al-Monitor article "Prison Break, Suicide, Bombing, Rock Iraqi Kurdistan."

Citizen ambassador.jpg

Iraqi Youth Initiative Combats Sectarianism

Citizenship Ambassadors aims to bring together youths from Iraq's various religious and ethnic communities and regional affiliations to combat the escalating sectarian conflict in the country.

A weapons dealer checks AK-47 rifles before selling it to smugglers transferring it to Syria, at his house near the city of Mosul, 390km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, February 16, 2012. The weapons dealers sell a rifle for about $1000. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CONFLICT) - RTR2XY8B

Smugglers Easily Cross Iraq’s Border

Despite the efforts of Iraq and the six countries bordering it, Iraq’s borders are easily navigated by professional smugglers.

Syrian refugees, who fled the violence in Syria, are seen at a school that functions as a shelter for Syrian Kurdish refugees at Qushtapa at the outskirts of the city of Arbil in Iraq's Kurdistan region, August 23, 2013. The number of Syrian children forced to flee their devastated homeland reached 1 million on August 23, 2013, half of all the refugees driven abroad by a conflict that shows no sign of ending, the United Nations said. Another two million Syrian minors are uprooted within their country where

New Iraqi Association Strives To Help Unmarried Women

"Single Women" recently opened its doors in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region to assist unmarried women who have traditionally been neglected by society.

A fan wearing a Ghostface mask from Scream holds an Iraqi flag during Iraq's international friendly soccer match against Syria at Baghdad's Shaab stadium March 26, 2013. Iraq will be allowed to play friendly matches at home again following approval from soccer's world governing body FIFA on Thursday. Iraq were banned from playing all games at home for security reasons after losing a World Cup qualifier 2-0 to Jordan at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Arbil in September 2011. The reprieve does not apply to Worl

Soccer Decision Fuels Sense of Iraqi Victimhood

Given the inextricable relationship between sports and politics in Iraq, a decision by the Gulf states to move the 2013 Gulf Cup of Nations out of Basra has hit a personal note with Iraqi politicians.

A man looks at a car on fire at the site of a bomb attack in Baghdad October 7, 2013. Bombs exploded across the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 22 people, police said. Five of the six blasts were in mainly Shi'ite Muslim districts, but there was also an explosion in the predominantly Sunni Muslim neighborhood of Doura. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX142ZK

The Crisis of Moral Decline in Iraqi Society

Following years of violence and despotic rule, Iraqis have lost a sense of moral responsibility toward society, something that must urgently be addressed to provide security and reach lasting solutions.

Iraq's Morgues Overwhelmed By Surge in Terror Attacks

The recent surge in suicide attacks has started overwhelming Iraq’s morgues, even though the country has become experienced in dealing with large numbers of deaths given its numerous wars since 1980.

Iraqi security forces and people stand at the site of a car bomb attack in Basra, 420 km (261 miles) southeast of Baghdad, October 13, 2013. A series of bombs killed at least ten people in mostly Shi'ite Muslim provinces of Iraq on Sunday ahead of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, police and medical sources said. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTX149QD

Iraq Plays Politics with Security As Elections Approach

Iraqi politicians treat security as an electoral matter, while security disintegrates throughout the country.