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Iraq

October 12, 2026

Baghdad 8:44 am

26°C

Demonstrators ride through a street while waving Syrian flags

Analysis

Why Syria and Iraq are taking different approaches to armed groups

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

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

Latest News

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

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.

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

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

French envoys bear surprising message from Mideast Christians

A French delegation to Lebanon, Iraq and Syria found that many Christians in the Middle East believe Western policies place economic interests ahead of their well-being.

Tunisian-born Holocaust survivor Susana Peretz, 79, sits in her home in the southern city of Beersheba April 4, 2013. Some 192,000 Holocaust survivors live in Israel and about a third have sought aid from the Foundation for the Benefit of the Holocaust Victims in Israel. According to surveys by the foundation, 19 percent of the survivors have admitted to going without adequate amounts of food and 14 percent had to forego medical treatment at least once a year due to financial hardship. The report said that

Israel's Arab Jews officially recognized as victims of Holocaust

Roughly 1,000 of Israel's North African and Iraqi Jews have requested to receive a one-time compensation grant that recognizes the suffering of those communities under the Nazi regime.

Why Tuz Khormato clashes were more than just local skirmishes

In Tuz Khormato, Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units and Kurdish peshmerga forces recently fought what appears to be a battle in the Shiite-Sunni power struggle, and not just a localized skirmish.

Iraqi journalists light candles at the site where Mohammed Badawi, the Baghdad bureau chief of Radio Free Iraq, was shot dead by a Kurdish officer in Baghdad's Jadriyah district March 22, 2014. Badawi was shot dead by the Kurdish officer at a checkpoint in Baghdad on Saturday as he went to work, provoking protests by other journalists and a promise by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to arrest the perpetrator. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MEDIA) - RTR3I6H4

Why journalists in Iraq face death threats

Journalists in Iraq are divided on why press freedom is restricted in the country, as some say that some reporters bring death threats on themselves by fabricating reports.

US, Russia compete to woo Syrian Kurds

The recent rapprochement between the Kurds and Russia is a new phase in the two sides' relations that date back to the 19th century, but Kurds do not want to alienate the United States either.

Iraq's Vice President Nouri al-Maliki attends a parliament session in Baghdad September 8, 2014. Iraq's parliament approved a new government headed by Haider al-Abadi as prime minister on Monday night, in a bid to rescue Iraq from collapse, with sectarianism and Arab-Kurdish tensions on the rise. REUTERS/Hadi Mizban/Pool (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR45G3J

Will secular parties gain upper hand in Iraq?

As religious currents have lost the people's and religious establishment's support, a secular discourse is more likely to emerge and compete with religious currents in the future.

Landmines hinder return of displaced to Iraq's Ramadi

Although efforts are underway to clear Ramadi from landmines, the displaced cannot return to their cities given the risks they could be facing.

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers a foreign policy speech at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, US April 27, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Bourg - RTX2BXBK

Trump meets the DC foreign policy establishment

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump rolls out his "America First" foreign policy speech, leaving many unanswered questions about his plans to secure the United States and stabilize the world's trouble spots.

Will Abadi resign from his party?

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi wants to form a Cabinet of nonpartisan technocrats, but his critics are pressing him to first leave the Islamic Dawa Party.

Iraqi actors perform on the stage of the damaged Rasheed theatre in Baghdad May 4, 2003, during the first post-war theatre play in the city. Members of the Najeen group performed "They passed from here", a political performance in the country's main theatre which was burned, damaged and looted during the chaotic fall of the regime of [Saddam Hussein.] - RTXLYCE

How these Iraqi artists are breathing new life into ruined theater

Impatient with neglect by successive Iraqi governments for cultural development, a group of producers and performers has taken on the task of renovating a destroyed theater.

Why the Mosul offensive has yet to succeed

Frustrations between the Iraqi army, peshmerga forces and local villagers have presented a major obstacle in the operation that was launched in late March to recapture Mosul from IS.

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 - RTX21NI3

Will Popular Mobilization Units join operations to liberate Mosul?

Although the Sunni forces oppose the participation of the Popular Mobilization Units in the battle for Mosul, the Iraqi government has opted for their participation in the absence of a US veto.