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Iraq

May 4, 2026

Baghdad 8:15 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

Saving Middle East relics needs less talk, more action

International action is required to stop the plundering of Middle Eastern treasures and the devastation of historic sites.

Is PKK real target of Turkish strikes?

Turkey’s decision to open two fronts, against the Islamic State and the PKK, complicates US cooperation with Kurds in Syria.

Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani (R) and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi attend a joint news conference in Arbil April 6, 2015. Abadi said the Baghdad government would work with Kurdish authorities to liberate the northern province of Nineveh from Islamic State militants. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RTR4W8W4

Erbil-Baghdad oil relations swing between deal, no deal

Tensions are still high between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government over oil exports.

A Turkish Air Force C-160D Transall transport aircraft takes off from Incirlik airbase in the southern city of Adana, Turkey, July 26, 2015. Kurdish militants killed two Turkish soldiers in a roadside bombing on Sunday, the military said, apparently retaliating for Ankara's crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) launched in tandem with strikes on Islamic State insurgents in Syria. Long a member of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, Turkey made a dramatic turnaround this week by granting t

Erdogan’s shift on Islamic State linked to Kurdish gains in Syria

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan finally takes on the Islamic State while attacking PKK bases in northern Iraq; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now the only US ally actively opposing Iran deal; Israel faces pressure to forgo demolition of Palestinian village.

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew (L) listens to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) as they appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington July 23, 2015. U.S. lawmakers skeptical about the nuclear deal with Iran promised to press senior Obama administration officials to make more information about it public at a Senate hearing on Thursday as Congress begins its two-month review of the agreement.
REUTERS/Gary Cameron
- RTX1LJNB

Congress gets extra dose of Iran before summer recess

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of July 27.

Westerners who have joined the Iraqi Christian militia Dwekh Nawsha to fight against Islamic State militants, take a photograph together at the office of the Assyrian political party in Dohuk, northern Iraq February 13, 2015. Thousands of foreigners have flocked to Iraq and Syria in the past two years, mostly to join Islamic State, but a handful of idealistic Westerners are enlisting as well, citing frustration their governments are not doing more to combat the ultra-radical Islamists or prevent the sufferi

Iraqi Christian militia draws foreign fighters

Foreign fighters who have joined Dwekh Nawsha, a Christian military organization fighting the Islamic State in Iraq, are finally seeing combat.

U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins speaks during a news conference in New Delhi June 27, 2013. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal (INDIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX112Q6

Veteran US diplomat: After Iran deal, focus on Syria

US diplomat James Dobbins shared his thoughts on what is next for the US and Iran, and what the recent agreement means for further collaboration in the region.

What Iraq needs to survive

Social disintegration and other issues facing Iraq require a nationwide reform campaign.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki during a joint news conference in Baghdad November 30, 2011. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq opened a new phase in relations between the two countries, including a robust security partnership. REUTERS/Saad Shalash (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTR2UN9O

Lobbying 2014: Podesta plays matchmaker for estranged US, Iraq

The United States and Iraq find themselves in intensive couples counseling as they try to save a failing marriage of convenience that could hold the key to defeating the biggest terrorist threat since al-Qaeda.

People stand on the steps of the Ziggurat of Ur ruins near Nassiriya, 300 km (186 miles) southeast of Baghdad, January 23, 2014. Ur's palaces and temples lie in ruins, but its hulking Ziggurat still dominates the desert flatlands of what is now southern Iraq, as it has for millennia. British archaeologists are now back in the area despite the insecurity in Iraq that had kept them - and all but the most adventurous tourists - away from one of the world's oldest cities. Picture taken January 23, 2014. To matc

Archaeological excavations in Iraq continue despite security chaos

In spite of the precarious situation in Iraq, a series of excavations is still uncovering the buried historical ruins in Iraq, where the ruins of Ur are only a sample of the landmarks that are yet to be unveiled.

Iraqi Shiite Muslim men from Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) march during a parade marking the annual al-Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Baghdad, July 10, 2015. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani - RTX1JVWP

Are Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units heroes or villains?

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units are facing criticism while the fighters' political role continues to evolve.

Iraqis shop at the Shorja market, the main stockpile central in Baghdad on August 30, 2008, as households prepare for the Muslim holy month or Ramadan. Iraqi women and men once fearful of shopping here are more confident since the improvement in security around the capital. Muslims around the world are gearing up for the holy month of Ramadan which commences on Sept 01. For the duration of the lunar month, Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink and sex from dusk till dawn as life slips into a lowe

The secret world of Baghdad's sex toy shops

Iraqi citizens and the central government are outraged by the spread of sexual products in popular markets across the country.