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

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Iraq

July 15, 2025

Baghdad 9:56 am

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THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS - JUNE 25: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) speaks with President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), as they arrive for the North Atlantic Council Plenary Session on the second day of the 2025 NATO Summit on June 25, 2025 in The Hague, Netherlands. Among other matters, members are to approve a new defense investment plan that raises the target for defense spending to 5% of GDP. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Analysis

From Caucasus to Iraq: How Israel’s war hands Turkey edge over Iran

After the war with Israel, a wounded Iran opens new doors for Turkey from Iraq to the Caucasus, but advancing its agenda could rekindle their rivalry.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

US President Donald Trump holds up a chart while speaking during a “Make America Wealthy Again” trade announcement event in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 2, 2025, in Washington.

From Iraq to Algeria, Trump’s looming tariffs could target 4 MENA countries

The United States has a trade deficit with Iraq, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia, according to the US government, prompting the president to send them letters warning of new tariffs.

An Iraqi Kurdish man holds a flag with the portrait of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a demonstration in the northern Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah on Oct. 10, 2019 against the Turkish offensive in northeastern Syria.

Turkey's spy chief heads for Iraq as PKK militants prepare to disarm

The planned weapons handover marks a major step in Turkey’s quiet bid to end the PKK’s decades-long insurgency and secure Kurdish political support for constitutional reform.

An Iraqi boy catches fish in the Tigris River in central Baghdad as the sun sets, on April 15, 2025.

Turkey gives drought-stricken Iraq more water in boost to PM Sudani

The agreement is expected to ease tensions and advance a joint infrastructure project linking Iraq’s Faw port to Turkey.

Latest News

Exclusive

US Syria envoy Barrack to meet Iraqi Kurdish PM Barzani in Erbil

CEO of Colony Capital Tom Barrack speaks during the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on July 21, 2016.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Pentagon slashes budget request for Iraq counter-ISIS funds: What to know

A military parade held by Iraq's army, Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces), and the Police force drives on a highway during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the defeat of the Islamic State (IS) group, in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on December 10, 2024. Iraq declared victory over fighters from the IS group at the end of 2017 after a three-year battle in which the jihadists had seized large swathes of the country. But jihadist cells still launch sporadic attacks against the army and poli

Iraq orders investigation after attacks on Taji, Imam Ali bases: What to know

Iraqi Air Force helicopters perform during Army Day celebrations, marking the 104th anniversary of the founding of the Iraqi army, at the Camp Taji military base north Baghdad, on January 6, 2025. The Iraqi armed forces were established by the United Kingdom during their mandate over Iraq after World War I. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

From Lebanon to Qatar, Israel-Iran war disrupts flights, airport traffic: What to know

Ground staff prepare a Middle East Airlines flight for departure on the tarmac at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on May 2, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

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

Kurd helicopter

Questions linger as US-backed Kurd forces say Iraq chopper crash victims were theirs

The Syrian Democratic Forces said two helicopters carrying its elite forces had crashed en route to Sulaiymaniyah.

Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (L) arrives at the Elysee Presidential Palace to meet with the French president, Paris, France, Feb. 16, 2023.

Interview

'You don’t solve issues by running away,' says Iraq's KRG PM

Masrour Barzani, in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, discusses the dispute with the rival PUK party; relations with the US and Iraq; China; and the KRG’s ambitious economic reform and climate policies.

Masrour Barzani

Masrour Barzani

Prime Minister of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government

An AS332 Super Puma military helicopter flies during a graduation ceremony for Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga officers in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region, on June 21, 2021.

Iraqi Kurdish officials say PKK militants killed in chopper crash near Turkey border

No one has yet claimed any connection to a helicopter that crashed in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Wednesday night, killing seven people.

Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani (R) talks to then-US Vice President Joe Biden during a meeting in Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region in Northern Iraq, on April 28, 2016, upon the latter's arrival on a surprise visit.

'No pretext to delay' Iraqi Kurdistan parliament elections, says Masoud Barzani

Iraqi Kurdish leader, in exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, cites "positive atmosphere" of budget talks, discusses prospects for oil law, relations with the United States, Iran, China and issues affecting the Kurdish people in Iraq and the region.

A man walks inside a liquor shop in Baghdad on February 23, 2023. (Photo by MURTAJA LATEEF/AFP via Getty Images)

'Iraq is not an Islamic country': Minorities protest Baghdad's alcohol ban as unconstitutional

The Iraqi government's renewed effort to prohibit alcohol is not only worrisome for Christian and Yazidi minorities, but also raises constitutionality questions.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Freedom House

MidEast freedom rankings: Syria worst, Tunisia in decline, says Freedom House

Syria remains to be the least and Israel the best performing country when it comes civil and political freedoms while the biggest one-year decline has been observed in Tunisia.

Lloyd Austin in Baghdad

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin talks troop presence in surprise Iraq visit

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is playing a delicate balancing act with pro-Iran factions as Washington keeps a low profile for its military advisers in Iraq in order to subdue the Islamic State.

Shiite Muslim pilgrims gather to pray at the shrine of the 8th-century Imam Musa al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya district, north of Baghdad, on February 17, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi TV series about Islamic history triggers Iraq’s sectarian divide

The Saudi-based MBC media group’s announcement that it would broadcast a TV series about a controversial figure in Islamic history, Mu'awiya bin Abi Sufyan, has faced strong backlash from Shiites in Iraq and the region.

This picture shows traffic in Baghdad's Tahrir Square with the iconic Freedom Monument, a 50-metre (165-foot) long bas relief that honours the 1950 revolution which overthrew Iraq's monarchy, on November 7, 2022.(Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq rolls out new plan to reduce chronic Baghdad traffic

Successive Iraqi governments have tried but failed to address the problem of traffic in the capital. Sudani's plan involves building new bridges and overpasses.

Artist Tara Abdulla in her studio in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Artistic heart of Iraq's Kurdistan thrives, but wants more public engagement

Sulaimaniyah, often called the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s “culture capital,” has become something of a haven for artists, though obstacles remain for the vibrant and self-sustaining artistic center they envision.

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images

In shift away from US dollar, Iraq to allow trade with China in yuan

Some countries in the region are increasingly looking away from the dollar.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a screen set at Red Square as he addresses a rally and a concert marking the annexation of four regions of Ukraine Russian troops occupy - Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, in central Moscow on September 30, 2022. (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Al-Monitor/Premise poll: Russia's role seen as negative in Turkey, Yemen, Iraq

The Russian invasion of Ukraine hurt the region economically, as supply chain disruptions and food shortages topped respondents concerns in Turkey, Egypt, Yemen and Iraq