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Iraq

June 16, 2026

Baghdad 5:38 am

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Tom Barrack

Exclusive

Barrack heads to Iraq as US presses Baghdad on Iran-backed militias

US envoy Tom Barrack is due to meet with Iraq’s new prime minister and other top officials in Baghdad, where he will likely press US demands for Iran-backed Shiite militias be dismantled and disarmed.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Members of the Iranian national soccer team including midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh (R) arrive at Tijuana International Airport on June 7, 2026, in Tijuana, Mexico.

Culture

World Cup opens amid visa disputes for Iran, Iraq and Somalia

Iran says a number of team staff were denied entry into the US, with Trump administration officials touting efforts to prevent affiliates of designated terrorist groups from entering.

Latest News

Syria says Iraqi oil shipments surge as Damascus courts foreign energy investment

A long convoys of Iraqi diesel-laden tanker trucks line up along the highway Tartus-Baniyas highway as they wait to unload their cargo at the Baniyas port refinery on the Mediterranean Sea, on April 15, 2026.

Israel-Iran escalation grounds flights across parts of Middle East

An Airbus A321 airliner arrives at the Mehrabad international airport during the delivery of the first batch of planes to the Iranian state airline Iran Air in the capital Tehran on Jaunary 12, 2017. - The aircraft arrived as part of an order for 100 other Airbus planes with a list price of around $20 billion (19 billion euros) on December 22, placed after the lifting of international sanctions on the Islamic republic. It will be used for internal flights landed at Tehran's Mehrabad airport. (Photo by ATTA

Culture

10 MENA teams at 2026 World Cup: Morocco eyes title, Iran faces visa hurdles

Morocco's midfielder Azzedine Ounahi celebrates scoring with teammates during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group E African qualification football match between Morocco and Niger at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat on September 5, 2025. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP)

Analysis

Turkey pushes Iraq, Syria trade routes as Hormuz crisis disrupts Gulf shipping

Vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the port city of Khasab on Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula, on May 17, 2026.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

A picture taken on Oct. 17, 2017, shows excess flammable gasses burning from gas flares at the Havana oil field, west of the multiethnic northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

Exclusive

Iraq seeks more compensation from Turkey, 'blocks' reopening of Kurds' oil pipeline

Disputes over oil revenues and arbitration claims have kept the Kurdish pipeline closed.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

AFP via Getty Images

One Turkish soldier, 17 PKK militants killed in northern Iraq clashes

The killing of the Turkish soldier comes ahead of militant leader Abdullah Ocalan’s expected call to disarm the Kurdistan Workers Party.

Ocalan

Iraqi Kurds lend hand as PKK leader negotiates plan for peace with Turkey

Abdullah Ocalan is expected to urge his men to lay down their arms and end a more than 40-year insurgency against the Turkish state, capping talks launched in April last year between the rebel leader, PKK commanders and the Turkish government.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) speaks during a joint press conference with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R), Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 22, 2023.

Turkey, Jordan, Iraq to hold first anti-ISIS summit this month: Turkish official

Top diplomats as well as Turkish, Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi defense and intelligence chiefs aim to hold a first security summit this month as part of efforts to set up a regional anti-ISIS coalition, Al-Monitor has learned.

Iraqi Muslim girls, who traditionally begin wearing the hijaba head covering worn in publicat the mandatory age of nine, take part in a ceremony organized at a stadium in Basra on December 19, 2024. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP) (Photo by HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Iraq passes law that could legalize child marriage: What to know

The controversial amendments were passed alongside laws on land disputes and amnesty for some crimes.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Kurdish leader Barzani, SDF's Kobane meet to seek common ground in Syria

The pair aim to bridge decades-old Kurdish divisions as shifting alliances reshape regional politics.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Kobane waves after giving a press conference in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakeh on Dec. 6, 2024.

Exclusive

Iraqi Kurdish leader Barzani to meet Syria SDF commander Kobane in historic step

Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani will meet SDF commander Mazlum Kobane in a major step toward easing regional tensions and advancing US-backed reconciliation efforts.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran on Jan. 8, 2024.

Khamenei pushes for US withdrawal from Iraq in meeting with Sudani

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s trip to Tehran is his first since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and comes ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

US army soldiers queue to board a plane to begin their journey home out of Iraq from the Ain al-Asad Air Base west of the capital, Baghdad, on Nov. 1, 2011.

Exclusive

Syria's new Islamist rulers reduce Iraq's appetite for US troop withdrawal

Iraq's prime minister is heading to Iran to discuss concerns about Syria's new rulers, as Baghdad is considering the delay of the US troop withdrawal to address regional instability.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

A Syrian rebel fighter fires rounds as people celebrate near the New Clock Tower in the central city of Homs on Dec. 8, 2024.

Analysis

Middle East turns 2024 page with new Syria order, Israel's multi-front war

Hamas and Hezbollah experienced major losses at the hands of Israel in 2024, while the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria sent shockwaves throughout the region.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump arrives to speak during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Nov. 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Analysis

Does Israel warning foreshadow shift on Iraq policy under Trump?

“Israel will not hesitate to do whatever is necessary” to protect its people, Israel’s UN ambassador tells Al-Monitor.

Andrew Parasiliti

By Andrew Parasiliti

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security

Harir

Exclusive

Iraqi national security adviser finds 'pigeons' but no US forces at Kurdish airfield accused of targeting Iran

A senior Iraqi official has toured an air base in Iraqi Kurdistan and verified that it has been evacuated of US troops, despite Iranian claims that it continues to be a source of drone strikes.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture