Iraq - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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Iraq

August 16, 2026

Baghdad 1:18 pm

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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

SABAH ARAR/AFP via Getty Images

Iraq strikes Islamic State hideouts

The US military said in a recent report that IS’ capabilities are “degraded” in Iraq and Syria.

Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R) poses with Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Baghdad on Aug. 22, 2023.

Kurds suffer as Iraq, Turkey fail to restart oil flow ahead of Turkish FM's Baghdad visit

As Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is set to meet in Baghdad with Iraqi leaders, disrupted oil flows, water and cooperation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party are expected to top the agenda.

A medic works at a laboratory at the Nablus hospital, run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), in Iraq's northern city of Mosul on Dec. 16, 2021.

Iraq's war-battered cities grapple with rising resistance to antibiotics

Six years after the liberation of Mosul from the Islamic State, the city battles a silent enemy: abnormally high rates of multidrug-resistant infections. It's a phenomenon fueled by decades of war that poses a massive threat to global health.

Iraqi security forces deploy near the gate of the green zone in Baghdad during a demonstration marking Labour Day on May 1, 2023, to demand a law establishing a salary grid to reduce pay inequalities for around 3 million government employees in the country.

US, Iraq defense chiefs discuss post-Islamic State strategy

Congress has long sought answers as to how the Pentagon plans to prepare Iraq’s military forces to stand on their own after the defeat of the Islamic State. This week, the Biden administration took a first step.

In this photo illustration, the messaging service Telegram app is seen on a mobile phone on Jan. 11, 2021.

Iraqi militias continue to use Telegram despite block

Iraq’s state media channel switched to the Israeli-founded Viber in response to the ban. Telegram is popular with protesters and militias alike in Iraq.

Mideast heat

Culture

From Egypt to Iran, heatwave compounds Middle East electricity problems, climate change burdens

Countries like Iraq are particularly susceptible to climate change, as recurring blackouts make it harder to stay cool indoors.

ZAID AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images

UK formally recognizes genocide against Yazidis by Islamic State

The United Kingdom is the latest country to recognize the 2014 mass slaughter of Yazidis by the Islamic State as genocide.

Relatives mourn over the caskets of 11 people killed in Turkish airstrikes.

US, Russia mum as Turkey escalates attacks against Kurdish groups in Syria, Iraq

Both the White House and the State Department remain silent as Turkey's military campaign against the PKK continues "full blast."

SAFIN HAMID/AFP via Getty Images

Iraq’s Yazidis appeal to Baghdad for funds to rebuild their native Sinjar

Iraq's Yazidi groups are pleading for more financial assistance to rebuild Sinjar, which was decimated by the Islamic State.

Stacks of Iraqi dinars are seen at a currency exchange shop, Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 14, 2023.

Iraqi dinar falls 17% against dollar amid US restrictions over Iran deals

The current depreciation follows 14 Iraqi banks being barred from using the dollar amid a crackdown on smuggling to Iran.

Iraq Sako

Analysis

Inside Iraq’s Chaldean Catholic Church battle with Iran-backed Christian group

The Babylon Movement and its sanctioned leader, Rayan al-Kaldani, are feuding with Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako, leading to significant controversy that now involves the United States and the Vatican.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

A supporter of the former paramilitary group Hashd al-Shaabi holds the Koran.

Iran, Saudi Arabia condemn Quran protest as Sweden relocates embassy staff from Iraq

Another provocative protest by Sweden-based Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika targeting Islam’s holy book has the region up in arms once again.