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Iraq

August 29, 2026

Baghdad 7:42 am

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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.

Fred TANNEAU / AFP via Getty Images

Iraq summons Iran envoy over 'Persian Gulf' post, Baghdad name origins: What to know

The move comes amid heightened tensions in the region, including over the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the controversially referenced gulf to the Arabian Sea.

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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

Oil falls 1.8% as traders await 'toughest' sanctions on Iran

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Iraq’s Zaidi doubles down on militia disarmament, boosting oil exports

Zaidi

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

Militias support Russian invasion as Iraq refuses to condemn

Iraq has aligned with China and Iran in abstaining from a UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Hackers post an image with the words “Iraq came, then history came" on a CBS website.

CBS hacked after reporter says Ukraine ‘relatively civilized’ compared to Iraq

Western media comparisons of the war in Ukraine to the Middle East have been widely criticized.

The building of the Supreme Judicial Council, Iraq's top court, Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 19, 2022.

Iraqi federal court accused of politicization

Iraq's federal court is under scrutiny for seemingly politically influenced decisions on sensitive cases.

This photograph shows an Ukrainian armoured personnel carrier (APC) BTR-4 destroyed as a result of fight not far from the centre of Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, located some 50 km from Ukrainian-Russian border, on Feb. 28, 2022.

Iraqi students stranded in Ukraine

Iraqi students are stuck in Ukraine and seem unable to flee due to the Russian invasion of that country.

Sipan Murad, a Yazidi girl who was held captive by the Islamic State, at her house in Rottweil, Germany, on Feb. 18, 2022.

Culture

Against all odds, Yazidi girl outlives her top-ranking Islamic State captors

Sipan Ajo, a 22-year-old Yazidi survivor from Kocho, emerged six months ago from seven years of captivity in Syria and has described her ordeal in detail to a journalist for the first time.

Nasiriyah protest

Iraqi officer arrested for 2019 killing of protesters

An interior ministry officer accused of serious human rights abuses during the war against the Islamic State has been arrested after documents emerged allegedly showing his direct involvement in the 2019 killing of protesters.

Syria funeral

Iraqi populist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr calls Russia-Ukraine war 'absolutely useless'

Regional alignments solidify after the invasion of Ukraine, as Iraqi politicians call for peace while four-way collaboration on dealing with the Islamic State and border security continues with Russia, Iran and Syria.

A picture shows the Supreme Judicial Council building in Iraq's Baghdad on Dec. 27, 2021.

Iraqi judges in crosshairs of drug dealers with powerful connections

Iraq has seen systematic assassinations of judges since 2003, most of whom were handling investigations into drugs and corruption cases involving influential figures and parties.

Taliban head of the Nangarhar intelligence services Dr. Bashir (C) walks inside the provincial intelligence compound in Jalalabad on Dec. 12, 2021.

Border crossings and foreign fighters rise after Taliban takeover

A recent UN report and other worrying signs point to a likely surge in both an al-Qaeda and Islamic State presence in Afghanistan in the six months since the Taliban has been in power.

This picture taken on March 15, 2020, shows a drone being used by Iraqi health workers around the Imam Hussein Shrine in the central Iraqi holy shrine city of Karbala.

Drones pose additional security threats, challenges for Iraq

With drones flying the Iraqi skies for illegal purposes, security authorities face a host of new challenges.

This picture taken on January 18, 2022 shows excavations around the al-Nuri mosque in the old town of Iraq's northern city Mosul, at the site heavily damaged by Islamic State (IS) group fighters in the 2017 battle for the city.

Culture

UNESCO makes progress in reconstruction of Mosul monuments

Paris-based UNESCO Chief Audrey Azoulay will travel to Mosul in March, to officially launch the second phase of the reconstruction of Mosul monuments destroyed under the Islamic State takeover.

Iraq marsh

Culture

Strains on ancient Mesopotamian marshes imperil ecology, way of life

The marshes in southern Iraq have a unique ecosystem but face dangers due to climate change, dams built upstream and decades of war and mismanagement.