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Iraq

August 16, 2026

Baghdad 11:21 am

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A man inspects the damage at the site of a strike in Bartalla, in the northern Iraq's Nineveh province, after US-Saudi attacks on militias, July 29, 2026.

Iraq intel and security officials visit Saudi Arabia after drone attacks

Iraqi authorities are cracking down on drone attacks after US and Saudi airstrikes targeted Iran-backed militias in the country.

The commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Esmail Qaani, speaks during a commemoration ceremony marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of Guards general Qasem Soleimani (on screen) in the capital Tehran on Jan. 3, 2024.

Analysis

What Qaani's Baghdad visit reveals about Iran's post-war dilemma

The Quds Force commander's Baghdad visit is occurring as Iran faced difficult choices in Iraq where the government is moving to bring powerful armed groups under state control after the recent war.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Qaani

IRGC chief Qaani reportedly in Iraq ahead of militia deadline

Esmail Qaani, who heads the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, has been heavily involved in Iran’s relations with Iraqi militias.

Latest News

Analysis

How Turkey is deepening energy and economic ties with Iraq as Iran weakens

a worker inspects an oil field in Iraq

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Iraqi Kurdish president’s meeting with Syria’s Sharaa signals shift in SDF dynamics

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani in Damascus, Aug. 3, 2026. IKRPresident/X

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

The Iraqi government is trying to avoid becoming a battleground in the Israel-Hamas war as Iran-backed militias continue to attack US forces there, but Baghdad has limited options to deter them.

Analysis

Iraq struggles to thwart Iran proxies' attacks as US ups rhetoric

The Iraqi government is trying to avoid becoming a battleground in the Israel-Hamas war as Iran-backed militias continue to attack US forces there, but Baghdad has limited options to deter them.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Excess hydrocarbons being burned off at the Nahr Bin Omar natural gas field, north of the southern Iraqi port of Basra, January 22, 2018.

Iraq and Turkmenistan make progress toward deal to transport gas via Iran

Iraq, currently dependent on Iran for gas and electricity, is seeking to develop its own gas supply as well as import gas from Turkmenistan.

NORTHEASTERN SYRIA - MAY 26: U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter gunners scan the desert while transporting troops on May 26, 2021 over northeastern Syria. U.S. forces, part of Task Force WARCLUB operate from remote combat outposts in northeastern Syria, coordinating with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in combatting residual ISIS extremists and deterring pro-Iranian militia. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

US launches new airstrikes against IRGC facility in Syria as attacks continue

US F-15s bombed a facility in eastern Syria as the Pentagon's Middle East policy director openly warned that the US military may target Iranian IRGC personnel in a bid to halt militia attacks on American troops.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani meets with Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Nov. 6, 2023.

Iran's Khamenei urges Iraq PM to pressure US over Gaza

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's Tehran visit came only one day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Baghdad, amid an uptick in Iran-backed militia attacks on US bases in the region in response to Israel's war on Hamas.

A picture taken on Jan. 13, 2020, during a press tour organized by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State group, shows a view inside Ain al-Asad military air base

New attacks hit US bases in Iraq, Syria as Iran ups threats over Gaza

White House and Pentagon officials have said they will hold Iran accountable for attacks on US bases by Iranian proxies.

NINEVEH, IRAQ - JUNE 20: Iraqi PMF fighters June 20, 2017 on the Iraq-Syria border in Nineveh, Iraq. The Popular Mobilisation Front (PMF) forces, composed of majority Shi'ite militia, part of the Iraqi forces, have pushed Islamic State militants from the north-western Iraq border strip back into Syria. The PMF now hold the border, crucial to the fall of Islamic State in Mosul, blocking the Islamic State supply route for militants from Syria to Mosul. (Martyn Aim/Getty Images).

No consensus yet among Iraqi armed groups on joining Israel-Hamas war

Interviews with faction leaders reveal anger with Hamas over starting a unilateral conflict, but also a determination to get involved if Hezbollah greenlights such a move and Israel invades Gaza.

Iraqi security forces stand guard at the site of a newly-unearthed Assyrian Lamassu (human-headed winged bull) sculpture discovered with its entire wings intact by the French archaeological mission at the archaeological site of Khorsabad (also known as Dur-Sharrukin), the former Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II (721705 BC) in Iraq's northern Nineveh province on October 24, 2023. (Photo by Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP) (Photo by ZAID AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Iraq unveils ancient Assyrian lamassu statue in Nineveh province

The Iraqi government has worked to repatriate smuggled artifacts in recent years. The city of Khorsabad, where the lamassu is located, was one of several ancient sites targeted by the Islamic State.

In this handout image released by the South Korean Defense Ministry, South Korean Navy's destroyer Yulgok Yi I (C), U.S. Navy's USS Benfold (R) and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's JS Atago (L) sail in formation during a joint naval exercise in international waters on April 17, 2023 at an undisclosed location. South Korea, the United States and Japan held a trilateral missile defense exercise in the international waters on Monday, Seoul's Navy said, amid stepped-up efforts to sharpen deterrence against N

US destroyer shoots down cruise missiles by Iran-backed Houthis

Iran-backed factions appeared to break several months of detente with US forces in the Middle East this week by launching drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea, Iraq and Syria amid Israel's war in Gaza, throwing the Pentagon's deterrence efforts into question.

Military drone

US troops shoot down third drone over Iraq as Biden visits Israel

Coalition personnel suffered minor injuries after a thwarted drone attack on the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq's Anbar province, as Iran-backed factions continue threats to attack US forces over Washington's support for Israel's war in Gaza.

Iraqis hold portait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (L) and shout slogans during a demonstration near the suspension bridge leading to Baghdad's Green Zone and the US Embassy in Baghdad on October 18, 2023, protesting a strike on a Gaza hospital which killed hundreds a day earlier. Thousands rallied across the Arab and Muslim world on October 18 to protest the deaths of hundreds of people in a strike on a Gaza hospital that they blame on Israel, despite its denials. (Photo by Ahmad AL-RUBAYE

Anti-US slogans, photos of Iran's Khamenei on display in Iraq's pro-Gaza protests

US forces in Iraq said they have come under fire as anger spreads in the Arab world over the deadly Gaza hospital explosion. Arab governments condemned Israel for the incident, but the United States maintains that a Palestinian group was likely responsible.

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Turkey extends mandate for military operations in Syria, Iraq

The Turkish parliament’s extension of the mandate for another two years comes amid rising tensions between Turkey and the United States.

Smoke billows from the Babasi oil facility in the countryside of al-Qahtaniya in Syria's Kurdish-controlled northeastern Hasakeh province on October 6, 2023 following a Turkish strike. (Photo by Delil souleiman / AFP) / "The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Delil souleiman has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [BABASI] instead of [BASBASI]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your serve

Turkey escalates airstrikes in Syria, but will it cross US, Russia red lines?

The likelihood of a fresh Turkish ground offensive in northern Syria appears to weaken after the unprecedented shooting down of a Turkish drone by the United States.