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Iraq

May 4, 2026

Baghdad 9:09 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

Iraq's Shi'ite paramilitaries and members of Iraqi security forces gather at North of Fallujah in province of Anbar, July 6, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX1JB2Y

Fallujah liberation key to securing Anbar

The Iraqi government’s announcement of the Anbar battle will allow the Iraqi forces to liberate Fallujah, and then Ramadi, as long as they are not trapped in the war of attrition waged by the Islamic State.

Residents gather at the Shabandar Cafe in Baghdad's Mutanabi street April 5, 2011. Reading books, buying books and discussing books are the defining pleasures of being a Baghdad intellectual, and for generations the life of the mind has orbited around this lane, the booksellers' market of the Iraqi capital. Four years ago, in a blow felt deeply by Iraq's intelligentsia, a car bomb killed 26 people here. Now, the street is again open, guarded and seemingly safe, and jammed every Friday with students, profess

Iraqi writer brings Persian literature to Arab world

Ghassan Hamdan bridges the Iranian-Arab divide with his translations of Persian literature into Arabic.

Iraqi Finance Minister Hoshiyar Zebari speaks during a news conference in Baghdad July 12, 2015. Iraq and the World Bank signed a $350 million loan agreement on Sunday to fund emergency reconstruction in towns recaptured from Islamic State militants, a deal Baghdad said marked the first international help to rebuild areas devastated by war. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily

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Iraq’s banks refuse to ante up amid liquidity shortage

Private banks in Iraq are facing a liquidity crisis that has led to limiting allowed withdrawals, much to the dissatisfaction of citizens.

A municipality worker sweeps the ground at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad July 13, 2015. Car bombs and suicide attacks targeting mainly Shi'ite Muslim districts of Baghdad killed 35 people on Sunday, one of the heaviest recent tolls in the Iraqi capital, which has faced a wave of bombings by Islamic State militants. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily

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Terrorists turn month of peace into time for war

The holy month of Ramadan is considered a month of martyrdom and jihad for extremist organizations such as the Islamic State, which during this time recall the battles fought by Muslims throughout history.

An electrician uses an Avometer to check wires connected to his local generator on a street in Baghdad, December 13, 2011. Iraq's financial system is slowly embracing the free market after years of tight control under Saddam; a fledging stock market is attracting foreign money while the banking and telecommunications industries are growing rapidly. But the national grid provides only a few hours of intermittent power a day, forcing Iraqis to live off noisy diesel-fueled generators. Picture taken December 13

Never-ending electricity crisis means lights out for Iraqis, again

Power outages have become a commonplace happening in Iraq, where people now depend on more than one source to substitute for the government’s poor services.

President George H.W. Bush is surrounded by a sea of U.S. military personnel as he greets troops following an arrival ceremony in the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Dhahran November 22, 1990. Bush celebrates Thanksgiving Day with U.S. troops from all branches of the military deployed here after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Reuters/Terry Bochatey ( SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE - RTR2ZNUI

25 years later: Did Kuwait invasion doom Iraq?

This week marks the 25th anniversary of the start of the 1990 Kuwait crisis, which played a decisive role in altering the region.

Members of the Turkish police counter attack team guarding President Tayyip Erdogan stand in front of a mosque after the President left following Friday prayers in Istanbul, Turkey, May 29, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTR4Y0MZ

Ankara cracks down on IS; but is it too little too late?

Turkey has recently moved to counter Islamic State recruitment in the country, but it faces a difficult time reintegrating jihadist returnees from Syria and Iraq, some of whom have been traumatized by their experiences.

A black flag belonging to Islamic State is seen near the Syrian town of Kobani as a Turkish army vehicle takes up position on the Turkish-Syrian border near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province October 7, 2014. Islamic State fighters advanced into the south west of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani overnight, a monitoring group said on Tuesday, taking several buildings to gain attacking positions from two sides of the city. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY CONFLICT

Is the Islamic State really a terrorist group? Turkey's lawyers don't think so

Turkish security services have only recently began to consider the Islamic State (IS) as a security threat, but the legal system in Turkey still does not recognize IS as a terrorist organization.

The stakes in Vienna

Fragile and promising trends in regional security and US-Iran cooperation are already underway as a result of the nuclear negotiations.

Sunni fighters who have joined Shi'ite militia groups known collectively as Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization), who are allied with Iraqi forces against the Islamic State, gesture with their weapons in al-Alam Salahuddin province March 17, 2015. Iraq paused its Tikrit offensive on Monday and officials called for more air strikes against Islamic State militants, while an officer said Kurdish forces sustained two more chlorine gas attacks by insurgents. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL

Why Iraq needs to depoliticize their Popular Mobilization Units

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units are made up of several groups whose political interests differ, clashing sometimes, which is causing the units to shift focus from the most urgent need — fighting the Islamic State.

Iraqi Vice President Nuri al-Maliki (C) speaks with Hamid al-Jazaeiri (R), Deputy Commander General of Saraya al-Khorasani, at a ceremony honouring fighters of the group who died during their fight against the Islamic State, in Baghdad February 21, 2015. Families, military personnel and delegates attended the event in Baghdad to honour fighters of the Iraqi Shi'ite militia group formed in 2013 in response to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's call to fight Sunni jihadists in Syria and later in

Is Maliki making a comeback?

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is being criticized for sowing sectarianism and using animosity among various Iraqi factions as a way to find a way back to power.

Chechen soldiers, representing Russia and wearing uniforms stitched with Chechen flags, compete in the 7th Annual Warrior Competition at the King Abdullah Special Operations Training Center in Amman April 22, 2015. Thirty-eight teams from 18 countries are participating in the competition to test their military skills. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTX19UI0

Russia's Middle East gamble

Russia's historical links with the Middle East run deep, as even amidst challenges Moscow sees opportunities.