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Iraq

August 22, 2026

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Zaidi

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

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi made the comments amid Hormuz-related export struggles and a nearing deadline for armed groups to disarm.

Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, gives a press conference in the autonomous region's capital Arbil on June 25, 2025.

Interview

Barzani calls for enhanced air defense for Kurdistan Region to counter drone attacks

Iraqi Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani backs US-led regional economic integration efforts and lauds US partnership in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor.

Masrour Barzani

Masrour Barzani

KRG Prime Minister

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

Exclusive

Saudi Arabia wants Iran-backed militia 'heads to roll' in Iraq amid talks with Tehran

Riyadh is pressing Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to act against the groups behind attacks on the kingdom as Baghdad struggles to balance ties with Tehran and Washington.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Explainer

Iraq seeks special Hormuz access from Iran in scramble to keep oil flowing

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images

Iran’s Ghalibaf makes high-level visit to Iraq ahead of disarmament deadline

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference at the site where Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed by a US airstrike in 2020 near the airport upon his arrival in Baghdad, on Aug. 19, 2026.

Explainer

Why Iran targeted Barzani family stronghold in Iraqi Kurdistan

Smoke rises after explosions were heard and air defences activated near the airport in Erbil, on July 24, 2026.

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

Tehran, Washington set for proxy clash on Syrian-Iraqi border

Due to its strategic position and impact on the future of Syria, the Iraqi-Syrian border is likely to be the site of a new conflict between the allies of Washington and Tehran soon after the Mosul operation concludes.

Interview

Syrian rebel commander: 150 US troops at al-Tanf base

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Lt. Col. Muhannad al-Talla, the commander of Maghawir al-Thawra, speaks of the role of the US-led coalition at al-Tanf military base, which is close to the border between Jordan, Syria and Iraq.

Muhannad al-Talla

Muhannad al-Talla

Commander of Maghawir al-Thawra

A man walks across a street in Qaraqosh, east of Mosul, Iraq November 25, 2016. Picture taken November 25, 2016. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic - RTSTT8A

Ex-Islamic State fighters face justice in Mosul

Iraq establishes a special court in Ninevah province to address a large number of terrorist cases related to former Islamic State fighters.

An Iraqi man sits in front to a closed liquor store in Ainkawa, a majority Christian area in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on October 13, 2015.
/ AFP / SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)

Residents of Iraqi Kurdistan stock up on spirits as Ramadan kicks off

Due to the Kurdish region's policy of closing liquor shops during the fasting month of Ramadan, the prices of alcohol on the black market go up, raising the question, especially by Christians, why they have to be penalized by a secular government.

Members of the Iraqi rapid response forces and the Iraqi Federal Police move between their vehicles during clashes with Islamic State fighters in western Mosul, Iraq May 27, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis - RTX37V1V

Iraqi forces advance from north ahead of ‘extremely violent’ fight

As the Iraqi joint forces launched an operation to capture the last Islamic State-held enclave in Mosul, the fight is getting harder and putting civilians at risk.

Iran follows Russia’s lead in backing Syria safe zones

Russia’s proposal legitimates Iranian military role in Syria; supreme leader hails victory for "Islamic democracy"; Turkish intervention in Sinjar could disrupt Mosul liberation plans; Egypt’s media crackdown.

An Iraqi woman collects grass with a canoe in the Chibayish marshes near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on June 25, 2015. Marsh areas in southern Iraq have been affected since the Islamic State group started closing the gates of a dam on the Euphrates River in the central city of Ramadi, which is under the jihadist group's control. AFP PHOTO / HAIDAR HAMDANI (Photo credit should read HAIDAR HAMDANI/AFP/Getty Images)

Iraq fears famed marshes could be pulled from World Heritage List

Amid serious concern about the violations against Iraq’s marshes, it is possible the marshes will be removed from the World Heritage List.

US ambassador to Iraq Stuart E. Jones (R) delivers a speech in the presence of Iraqi Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Adel Fahad Shershab, at Iraq's National Museum during a ceremony where looted artefacts recovered by the US military during a recent raid in Syria are handed back to the Iraqi authorities, in the capital Baghdad, on July 15, 2015. AFP PHOTO / SABAH ARAR.
(Photo credit should read SABAH ARAR/AFP/Getty Images)

US mulls how best to control pro-Iran factions in Mideast

The United States and the Gulf states seem to agree that Tehran and its allies need to be contained to keep Iran from aggressively expanding once the Islamic State is driven out of the region.

SINJAR, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 16: A Kurdish Peshmerga soldier searches for weapons in the rubble of an airstrike near a mosque on November 16, 2015 in Sinjar, Iraq. Kurdish forces, with the aid of months of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, liberated the town from ISIL extremists, known in Arabic as Daesh, in recent days. Although the battle was deemed a major victory, much of the city lay in complete ruins. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Iraq's Sinjar heats up again as PMU closes in

The world's attention has turned back to Iraq's Sinjar as Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units approach during operation to liberate Mosul and Yazidi loyalties worry Turkey.

Picture released on October 1980 of Iraqi soldiers standing in front of tanks and looking at Khorramshahr, near Chatt-el-Arab, in Iran, as fights between Iran and Iraq started again despite the cease-fire. (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)

Expulsion of Iraqi forces has lessons for Iranians today

On the anniversary of the liberation of a southwestern city from invading Iraqi forces, Iranian officials see lessons for today.

A group of Arab soldiers who have joined Kurdish peshmerga forces take part their graduation ceremony at a training camp in Duhok province, Iraq, February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Ari Jalal - RTX2ZZVX

Disputes over Iraq's Yazidi areas lead to fears of PMU-peshmerga clash

The Popular Mobilization Units is involved in military operations in Yazidi areas of northern Iraq, angering peshmerga, who argue that the PMU is not allowed to do so by an agreement between Erbil and Baghdad.

A helicopter is seen next to the Jordanian flag during the Eager Lion military exercise at the Jordan-Saudi Arabia border, south of Amman May 17, 2017. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTX36760

Damascus, Amman exchange threats as border tensions flare

Recent military exercises hosted by Jordan increased the Syrian regime's suspicion about activity on its southern border, while the opposition accuses the regime and Iran of trying to create a land route from Iran to Lebanon, through Syria and Iraq.