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Iraq

May 3, 2026

Baghdad 1:55 pm

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Zaidi

Analysis

Iraq’s Zaidi offers economic promise for Turkey but unknowns loom

Iraq’s prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, is expected to sustain growing economic and strategic ties with Turkey thanks to his business-oriented approach, though uncertainty over his political stance could test cooperation on sensitive issues.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Ali Al-Zaidi

Analysis

US banking on Iraqi turnaround with nomination of Zaidi as new PM

Trump signals hope for a "tremendous new chapter” in US-Iraq ties with the nomination of Ali Al-Zaidi as prime minister.

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Home to many of the world's largest wheat importers, the Middle East and North Africa face acute food security risks as the US-Israel-Iran war disrupts global fertilizer flows and pushes up prices.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Iraq's prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, at Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's office on April 28, 2026.

Trump congratulates Iraq PM-designate Zaidi in call: What to know

The US President was openly critical of previous nominee Nouri al-Maliki, seen as too close to Iran, but is now welcoming the new candidate put forward by Iraq’s leading Shiite bloc.

Latest News

Meet Ali al-Zaidi, businessman and Iraq's new prime minister-designate

Prime Minister Mohammed S. al-Sudani met with Prime Minister-designate Ali Faleh al-Zaidi on April 28, 2026.

Iraq's Shiite alliance nominates Ali al-Zaidi as PM candidate: What to know

Ali al-Zaidi

Split over Maliki, Iraq’s Shiite bloc delays PM vote as deadline nears: What to know

Qais al-Khazali (L), head of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, stands along with former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki after casting their ballots at a polling station in Baghdad on Nov. 11, 2025.

How Syria's border opening with Iraq redefines Turkey-Kurd balance

Members of Iraq's security forces stand guard on the the al-Rabia border crossing with Syria on April 20, 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

Residents inspect a market after a bomb attack in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, August 3, 2014. Picture taken August 3, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR414ZS

IS cells lurking in Iraq's Anbar continue to strike liberated areas

Perhaps in retaliation for its successive defeats by the Iraqi army and despite wide efforts to maintain security, the Islamic State is still bombing areas recently liberated from its control.

A Syrian Kurdish fighter rides in a military vehicle in the town of Bashiqa, after it was recaptured from the Islamic State, east of Mosul, Iraq, November 12, 2016. Picture taken November 12, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RTX2TLWW

Kurdish soldiers bring own weapons to fight IS in Mosul

As the Kurdish peshmerga complain about the shortage of US support, some tend to buy weapons with their own money to attend the battle against the Islamic State.

A fighter from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) stands near burning confiscated cigarettes in the city of Raqqa April 2, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT RELIGION SOCIETY) - RTR3JOPD

Islamic State turns to cigarette smuggling to fund itself

As the Islamic State loses its financial resources, it turns to fund the organization through other resources such as cigarette smuggling.

Militias known as Hashid Shaabi gather in the streets of the town of al-Alam March 10, 2015. Iraqi troops and militias drove Islamic State insurgents out of the town of al-Alam on Tuesday, clearing a final hurdle before a planned assault on Saddam Hussein's home city of Tikrit in their biggest offensive yet against the ultra-radical group. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4STTA

Sunni town, Shiite PMU join forces in fight against IS

Hundreds of civilians flee daily from the Islamic State-controlled areas toward Sunni areas under control of the predominantly Shiite Popular Mobilization Units.

Iraqi Sunni Muslim fighters from Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) take part in a parade during a ceremony marking the Iraqi Police Day at Amiriyat al-Fallujah in Anbar province, January 9, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani - RTX21NHG

After Mosul battle, is Syria next for PMU?

As the liberation of Mosul nears, the Popular Mobilization Units announced that they have received an invitation from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to fight in Syria.

Iraqi Sunni Muslim fighters from Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) take part in a parade during a ceremony marking the Iraqi Police Day at Amiriyat al-Fallujah in Anbar province, January 9, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani - RTX21NHJ

Iraq seeks to merge PMU militias under new image

Popular Mobilization Units leaders are meeting with Western politicians and diplomats regularly, trying to improve the group's reputation in the West.

An aerial view shows the Shrine of Imam al-Abbas during the commemoration of Arbain in Kerbala, southwest of Baghdad December 13, 2014. Iraqi officials say millions of Shi'ite pilgrims from across Iraq and neighbouring countries are expected in Kerbala for Saturday's Arbain ritual, which marks the last of 40 days of mourning for the death of Imam Hussein that happened around 1,300 years ago. REUTERS/Abdul-Zahra (IRAQ - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY CITYSCAPE) - RTR4HW0P

Millions of Iranians enter Iraq for Shiite ritual

Millions of Iranian pilgrims flock to Iraq to join the marking of Arbaeen, the anniversary of the 40th day of mourning after the killing of the third Shiite Imam, Hussein bin Ali.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (L) speaks along side retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mike Flynn during a campaign town hall meeting in Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S., September 6, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RTX2OE6J

Would Trump back Turkish military escalation in Iraq, Syria?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan weighs risks and benefits of military interventions as Donald Trump transition signals possible Turkish tilt; Will Iraq's Baathists return after liberation of Mosul?

Militias make use of Iraqi universities to spread their influence

Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units finds that universities provide a perfect recruitment platform.

Members of the Shi'ite Badr Organisation fighters ride on military vehicles during a battle with Islamic State militants at the airport of Tal Afar west of Mosul, Iraq November 18, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani - RTX2UAJW

Iran, Turkey fight over Tal Afar

As the predominantly Shiite Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), with the support of Iran, expand their control over the recently liberated area of Tal Afar, which has a Turkmen majority, the tension between the PMU and Turkey has increased.

A picture of jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan is seen in a PKK mausoleum in Sinjar region, northern Iraq, May 1, 2016. They share little more than an enemy and struggle to communicate on the battlefield, but together two relatively obscure groups have opened up a new front against Islamic State militants in a remote corner of Iraq. The unlikely alliance between the Sinjar Resistance Units, an offshoot of a leftist Kurdish organisation, and Abdulkhaleq al-Jarba, a Arab tribal mili

Will Iraq's Sinjar become new base for PKK?

While the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Kurdistan Democratic Party are competing over Sinjar, the Yazidis dismiss fears of the PKK making it a "second Qandil."

Iraqi students forced to study without textbooks

Iraq's Ministry of Education has failed to provide Iraqi students with their textbooks because of corruption and negligence.