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Iraq

October 8, 2026

Baghdad 8:06 am

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A man walks past a closed foreign exchange office in Baghdad on October 7, 2026. Iraq's central bank devalued the dinar currency against the dollar on October 7, with the country facing a deepening crisis brought on by the Middle East war. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq devalues dinar 13% as Hormuz disruption hits oil revenue

The central bank said in a statement that it had revised the official exchange rate to 1,520 Iraqi dinars per dollar from around 1,320.

A member of the Iraqi security forces flashes the victory sign during a military parade

Explainer

What Iraq’s US troop withdrawal means for security after Kirkuk killings

As Iraq assumes full responsibility for its security following the coalition’s withdrawal, a disputed counterterrorism operation in Kirkuk is raising questions about accountability, public trust and lingering security gaps.

Members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) paramilitary forces stand guard during an election rally for the "Asaib Ahl al-Haq" movement in the capital Baghdad, on October 7, 2021.

Analysis

After US exit, Iran gains space in Iraq and a harder balancing act

For Iran, the easier part may have been getting Washington out, but it may now have to struggle turning the absence into durable influence and reviving its allied militias without provoking instability.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

US President Donald Trump meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, on July 8, 2026.

Trump’s integration policies build on Gulf, Turkey ties and Syria success

Iran’s influence, and the potential for renewed conflict, complicate progress in Iraq.

Latest News

Iraq announces Iran flights to resume: What to know

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 Jan. 12, 2017.

Analysis

Can Turkey’s Bashiqa withdrawal pave the way for deeper Iraq ties?

Turkish soldiers conduct military exercises near the Habur crossing gate between Turkey and Iraq on Sept. 27, 2017 in the Silopi district, southeast Turkey.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

How militias in Anbar could complicate Iraq’s energy ambitions

Iraqi soldiers from the new 'desert battalion' special forces stand next to military vehicles as the take part in a graduation ceremony, after months of training by the French military, at the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar west of Baghdad on February 29, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

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 stuffed toy is found inside an abandoned house previously used by the Islamic State militants in western Mosul, Iraq June 15, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro - RC1561383C60

Iraq struggles to provide war orphans with identities

The living victims of the war in Iraq against the Islamic State include children whose parents were killed or can't be identified.

Protesters gather near the main provincial government building in Basra, Iraq July 15, 2018. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani - RC1D424AA860

Iraqi protests escalate with no new government in sight

Cities throughout southern Iraq are witnessing violent demonstrations, and the government has failed thus far to address citizens' demands and stop the protests.

IS remains a threat in Iraqi desert, tribal villages

Popular Mobilization Units are conducting regular patrols in the Iraqi desert to prevent activity by Islamic State sleeper cells.

Oil installations hit by protests in southern Iraq

The wave of protests in the southern province of Basra is escalating, even as the government promises to improve the status of the province in order to calm the street.

'Snake man of Baghdad' spreads love for wild animals

Wildlife lover and environmental activist Mahdi Laith says his mission in life is to change Iraqi attitudes toward the country's many exotic species.

Turkeys Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (C) and his wife Sare Davutoglu (L), welcome freed Turkey's Consul in Mosul Ozturk Yilmaz (R) and dozens of other freed Turkish nationals hostages held by Islamist militants in northern Iraq for more than three months, on September 20, 2014 at the Esenboga Airport in Ankara. Fighters from the Islamic State (IS) kidnapped 46 Turks including diplomats, children and special forces from the Turkish consulate in Mosul and 3 Iraqis on June 11 as they captured swathes of nort

What's behind Turkey's rush to reopen Iraqi consulates?

Turkey's consulate in Mosul has been closed since the building was seized by Islamic State militants in June 2014, but now Ankara is looking to make a comeback in its southeastern neighbor.

Billion dollar debt, heat wave push Iran to cut electricity to Iraq

Iran has cut off electricity supplies to Iraq amid increased consumption during a hot spell and reports of massive accrued debt by Baghdad, sparking a wave of protests in central and southern Iraqi regions.

Why many Iraqi Kurds keep tradition of cockfighting alive

Cockfighting in Iraq still provides many men with a nightly escape despite the efforts of animal welfare activists to ban blood sports.

Iraqi Kurdistan's Movement for Change faces rebellion from within

The Gorran movement is facing accusations of nepotism, as the two sons of the movement’s founder have gained ownership of its financial assets.

Drought forces Iraq to abandon cultivation of crops

Due to the acute shortage of irrigation water, Iraq is reducing the cultivation of large areas of land and preventing the cultivation of strategic crops that are a source of livelihood for farmers, such as rice and corn.

A general view of the mountains next to the town of Suleimaniya, some 330 km north of Iraqi capital Baghdad, January 31, 2004. North of the bombs and the chaos, the Kurdish city of Suleimaniya is worlds apart from the Iraq that dominates the headlines. Shops with bright neon signs and sharp window displays line wide, clean streets; traffic lights flash red and green; women walk unveiled through the city. At night the trees are hung with colored light bulbs, the restaurants full of diners. TO GO WITH STORY I

Fires and armed conflict take toll on Kurdish flora, fauna

The mountains of Iraq's Kurdistan region are threatened by man-made and natural wildfires that are difficult to control because of a lack of firefighting resources and manpower.

TOPSHOT - Kirkuk provincial Governor, Najm al-Din Karim (C), walks on October 22, 2016 alongside police and Kurdish security forces as he visits the damaged sites where fighting against Islamic State (IS) jihadists took place in the centre the Kurdish-controlled city of Kirkuk.
Security forces battled for a second day with Islamic State gunmen who infiltrated Kirkuk in a brazen raid that rattled Iraq as it ramped up an offensive to retake Mosul. / AFP / Marwan IBRAHIM (Photo credit should read MARWAN

Islamic State awakens sleeper cells in Iraq's Kirkuk

The Islamic State is gradually rekindling its terrorist activities in Iraq through sleeper cells in Kirkuk province, where security is already stretched thin by political unrest.