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Iraq

July 15, 2026

Baghdad 7:52 pm

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Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi meets with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, DC, July 14, 2026.

Trump hosts Iraqi PM Zaidi as Iran war intensifies

President Donald Trump emphasized Iraq’s “tremendous oil reserves” and possible deals with US companies.

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

Latest News

Analysis

Can a UAE-backed Syria-Iraq corridor become Gulf's next trade route?

An aerial view shows port of the western Syrian port city of Latakia, on Dec. 18, 2024.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

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

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

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets with Iraq's Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi (R) in Baghdad March 24, 2013. Kerry made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday and will urge Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to make sure Iranian flights over Iraq do not carry arms and fighters to Syria, a U.S. official said. REUTERS/Jason Reed (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXXVNF

Iraqi Speaker: Maliki Could Resort To Military Force Against Opponents

Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi criticizes Baghdad’s support for Syrian President Assad's regime, and notes that Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki could resort to using military force against demonstrators.

A fighter from Islamist Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra runs with his weapon as their base is shelled in Raqqa province, eastern Syria, March 14, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT POLITICS) - RTR3EZGW

Jabhat al-Nusra Declares Allegiance to Al-Qaeda

The leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq has made a speech declaring the integration of Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra and his own organization, Mushreq Abbas reports.

BAGHDAD - NOVEMBER 8: In this handout image provided by the Iraqi Prime Minister office shows Kurdish leader Masoud Barazani (C) receiving Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (R) and former Prime Minister and Shiite leader Ibrahim Al-Jaafari (L) on November 8, 2010 at Arbil airport 190 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq. Hosted by Kurdish leader Masoud Barazani, Iraqi political leaders met in Arbil to discuss the formation of the Iraqi government about eight months since the country's parliamentary elections. (

Erbil-Baghdad Relations Still Lack Substance

Despite ongoing negotiations and talks between Iraq’s central government in Baghdad and the country’s Kurdistan region, reconciliation efforts still lack the substance necessary to bring about effective solutions, writes Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

An electrician works on an electric switchboard of a local generator in Baghdad, December 13, 2011. Iraq's financial system is slowly embracing the free market after years of tight control under Saddam; a fledging stock market is attracting foreign money while the banking and telecommunications industries are growing rapidly. But the national grid provides only a few hours of intermittent power a day, forcing Iraqis to live off noisy diesel-fueled generators. Picture taken December 13, 2011. To match Featur

Promises of Reliable Electricity Offer Little Reassurance in Iraq

The Iraqi government has pledged to provide the country with 24-hour electricity, heralding the end of years of energy blackouts, but doubts remain over the government’s ability to deliver on their promises, writes Omar al-Shaher.

Iraqi Sunni Muslims take part in an anti-government demonstration in Falluja, 50 km (31 miles) west of Baghdad, April 5, 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/Mohanned Faisal (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS) CIVIL UNREST) - RTXY9JG

Maliki Seeks 'Majority Government' In Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki seeks to establish a "majority government" that would further marginalize his Sunni and Kurdish political rivals, writes Mushreq Abbas.

The room where Iraq's parliament was to meet today, for only the second time since it was elected in December, remains empty after politicians cancelled today's session, April 20, 2006. Iraq's Shi'ite Alliance said on Thursday it would hold a new internal vote to name a prime minister, raising the possibility that Ibrahim al-Jaafari will be removed to end a months-long impasse over a unity government. REUTERS/Ahmad Rubaye/Pool - RTR1CMS1

Iraq: The Parliament That Barely Meets

The Iraqi parliament, already not known for its long hours, barely met in March amid a new power struggle between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, writes Ali Abel Sadah.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden talks with soldiers at Camp Victory on the outskirts of Baghdad, July 4, 2009. Biden met U.S. troops preparing to mark their Independence Day holiday on Saturday, on the third day of a visit he has used to urge Iraqi politicians to do more to reconcile rival factions. REUTERS/Khalid Mohammed/Pool (IRAQ CONFLICT POLITICS MILITARY ANNIVERSARY IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR25B7I

Iraqi Panel Promotes 'Biden Plan' For Federal Iraq

The key to securing Iraq’s political future is to place administrative responsibilities in the hands of the regions, and hold power centrally in Baghdad, writes Mushreq Abbas.

Iraqi journalists inspect the equipment after attack by an armed group at the newspaper's headquarters of Addustour newspaper in Baghdad April 2, 2013. Employees of Iraq's Addustour newspaper on Tuesday inspected the damage caused by an armed group attack at the newspaper's headquarters the day before. The armed group broke into the newspaper building in Karrada district in central Baghdad on Monday, beating guards and journalists and burning editions of the newspaper, said an eyewitness.REUTERS/Thaier al-

Attacks on Iraqi Media Call Press Freedom Into Question

Following attacks on the offices of three different Iraqi newspapers on April 1, press freedom in Iraq is once again called into question, writes Mushreq Abbas.

Employees of the state-run South Oil Company (SOC) join a new oil storage tank to the oil pipelines near the southern city of Basra January 14, 2013. The head of the state-run South Oil Company said the new facility will add a capacity of one million barrels to the existing 5.5 million barrels available. REUTERS/Atef Hassan (IRAQ - Tags: ENERGY CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3CG6G

Iraq Lagging in Foreign Investment

Iraq is still struggling to attract foreign investors amid dated laws, political instability and a conservative society, writes Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

A girl and her father look at books at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in Guadalajara November 24, 2012. REUTERS/Alejandro Acosta (MEXICO - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR3AUCG

Kurdistan Book FairShowcases Mideast Talent

A book fair in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan's capital, showcased regional and international literary talent and served as a unifying event against a backdrop of violence and sectarianism, writes Abdel Hamid Zebari.

A flame rises from a pipeline at Taq Taq oil field in Arbil at the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, about 350 km (220 miles) north of Baghdad, September, 5, 2012. To match Analysis IRAQ-OIL-KURDISTAN/ REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: ENERGY BUSINESS) - RTR37KBL

Iraqi Government Warns Kurdistan Region Against 'Smuggling' Oil

The ongoing dispute over oil between the central Iraqi government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil has intensified, writes Omar al-Shaher.

A man works at a construction site in Iraq's northern province of Arbil September 25, 2010. While most Iraqis struggle under the detritus of a seven-year war, the people of Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan can frolic in a public pool, ride an elevated cable car over freshly planted parkland or escape stifling heat in a new ice skating hall. The new luxuries of Iraq's northern Kurdish region seem a world apart from the dust and grit of Baghdad, where suicide bombers are an everyday fear, dirt-gray blast walls domina

KRG Minister: Our Problem With Baghdad Lies in the Budget

The Kurdistan Regional Government’s reconstruction minister talks about the ministry’s plans to revitalize the housing sector and notes that the region’s problems with Baghdad center on budget allocations, writes Abdel Hamid Zebari.