Iraq - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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Iraq

April 20, 2025

Baghdad 4:35 am

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oil field

After steep fall, oil prices slightly recover following Trump tariff pause

Over the last week, oil prices have plummeted amid the escalating trade war between the United States and China.

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

In Paris, 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.

Latest News

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

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.

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

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)

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

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Exclusive

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

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.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Pentagon Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Andrew Parasiliti

President and Chief Content Officer

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

Suadad al-Salhy

In Baghdad, reporting on politics and security

Lyse Mauvais

In Amman, reporting on humanitarian crises

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks.

Turkey accuses Iraqi Kurdish party of being under ‘full control’ of PKK

Turkey's top diplomat tore into an Iraqi Kurdish group following an April 8 drone strike targeting the US-led coalition’s top ally in Syria, saying the PKK had taken “full control” of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

A member of the Iraqi security forces stands by a destroyed vehicle that was carrying rockets amdist sacks of flour, in the district of al-Baghdadi in al-Anbar province on July 8, 2021. - Fourteen rockets were fired on July 7 at an air base hosting American troops in the western province of Anbar, causing minor injuries to two personnel, the coalition said. The rockets "landed on the base & perimeter" of the Ain al-Assad base, the coalition spokesman tweeted, adding that local homes and a mosque were also d

Iraqi militias escalate rhetoric against US, threatening more attacks

After a period of calm following the formation of the new government, angry rhetoric has been rising against the US embassy's social outreach to Iraqi groups and tribes.

Mazloum Kobane, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), gives a press conference near the northeastern Syrian Hassakeh province on Oct. 24, 2019.

Breaking | Last Updated: April 11, 2023, 5:08 am

Drone strike targets US Syrian-Kurdish ally Mazlum Kobane, Turkey suspected

Mazlum Kobane, the Pentagon’s chief ally in the fight against the Islamic State, was traveling in a convoy with US officials at the time of the strike.

This picture taken on Jan. 26, 2019, shows journalists filming outside the departure lounge and control tower of Sulaimaniyah International Airport.

Turkey shuts airspace to Sulaimaniyah flights, citing Kurdish militants

The move is likely retaliation against ties between Kurdish militants and the Iraqi Kurdish Patriotic Union Party.

Patrick Pouyanne, CEO, TotalEnergies

TotalEnergies confirms $10 billion investment in Iraq oil fields, solar plant

The long-delayed deal is expected to bolster the regional electricity grid in the south of the country.

TotalEnergies CEO

Iraq to take 30% stake in $27 billion TotalEnergies project

Progress had stalled on multi-million-dollar deal amid disagreements with Iraqi lawmakers over terms.

MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP via Getty Images

Oil deal reached between Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government

The Kurdistan Regional Government says an agreement will result in the resumption of oil exports to Turkey after a legal dispute stopped outflows.

A view of an oil refinery in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, on June 20, 2014. Kurdish forces took control of Kirkuk and other disputed territory as Sunni Arab militants pressed an offensive that has seen them seize a large chunk of Iraq and sweep federal security forces aside. AFP PHOTO/KARIM SAHIB (Photo by KARIM SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqi efforts underway to resolve Kurdish oil exports via Turkey

Ankara, Baghdad and Erbil appear willing to negotiate a new mechanism after an international tribunal dealt a blow to Kurdistan’s drive to sell its oil independently.

Shiite Muslims protest near the local headquarters of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority on July 20, 2003, in Najaf, Iraq.

Analysis

20 years after US invasion of Iraq, what lessons remain?

With the Pentagon now refocusing elsewhere, and with Iran getting closer to nuclear weapons by the day, the widening post-Iraq American boots-on-the-ground Middle East vacuum is cautiously being challenged by China.

Gilles Kepel

By Gilles Kepel

ALI AL-SAADI/AFP via Getty Images

International oil firms stop operations as Iraqi-Kurdish oil dispute continues

A Kurdish official told Al-Monitor that the Kurdistan Regional Government disagrees with an Iraqi government proposal to resolve the issue, as the stoppage of oil exports to Turkey threatens the autonomous region's economy.

Demonstrators lift national flags during a protest near Baghdad's Green Zone on February 27, 2023.

Iraqis continue to protest controversial electoral law amendment

An amendment was passed by the Iraqi parliament that critics say will benefit larger political parties at the expense of independents that emerged following the 2019 Tishreen protests.

In this handout photo released by Iraq's National Security press office, Iraq's National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji (R) meets with the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani (C) in Baghdad on March 19, 2023. (Photo by IRAQI SECURITY MEDIA CENTRE / AFP) / XGTY / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO /IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY PRESS OFFICE" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by -/IRAQI SECURITY MEDIA CENTRE/A

Analysis

Iran-Iraq agreement about more than borders

Tehran reinforces position in Iraq with border deal; Syria heats up despite Arab rapprochement; Iraq-Turkey manage differences on water, oil and PKK.

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti