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Iraq

May 5, 2026

Baghdad 12:32 am

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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

Displaced Sunni women fleeing the violence in Ramadi, carry bags as they walk on the outskirts of Baghdad, May 24, 2015. Iraqi forces recaptured territory from advancing Islamic State militants near the recently-fallen city of Ramadi on Sunday, while in Syria the government said the Islamists had killed hundreds of people since capturing the town of Palmyra. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX1ED8I

Baghdad stumbles in response to Ramadi refugees

180,000 Iraqis now displaced by the Islamic State from Ramadi; Islamic State benefits from Saudi military intervention in Yemen; Jabhat al-Nusra’s attempted makeover.

A member of al Qaeda's Nusra Front burn a Syrian national flag in the town of the northwestern city of Ariha, after a coalition of insurgent groups seized the area in Idlib province May 29, 2015. The Syrian army has pulled back from the northwestern city of Ariha after a coalition of insurgent groups seized the last city in Idlib province in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border that was still held by the government. A coalition of rebel groups called Jaish al Fateh, or Conquest Army, said it had taken

Al-Qaeda theorist calls for infiltrating political systems

Abdullah bin Mohammed, an al-Qaeda theorist, believes jihadists need to adopt a new strategy of attaining legitimacy by rebranding themselves and working from within political systems, an idea that might already have taken root in Syria.

Displaced Sunni people, who fled the violence in the city of Ramadi, arrive at the outskirts of Baghdad, May 19, 2015. Iraqi security forces on Tuesday deployed tanks and artillery around Ramadi to confront Islamic State fighters who have captured the city in a major defeat for the Baghdad government and its Western backers. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX1DOSG

Ramadi's displaced find restrictions, not refuge, in Baghdad

The exodus of displaced people fleeing Iraq's Anbar province after the Islamic State imposed its control there should be an opportunity for the Iraqi government to unify efforts of all sects in the face of terrorism.

Iraqi gravekeeper Ali Mansur points to the tomb of Gertrude Bell in Iraq April 30, 2006. Bell, an "oriental secretary" to British governments, was credited with drawing the boundaries of modern Iraq out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War One. Bell, also a British traveller, writer and linguist, was one of the most powerful women of the 1920s, an adviser to empire builders and confidante to kings. She died in Baghdad in 1926 and rests in a forgotten cemetery in the capital. Picture t

Reassessing consequences of occupation in Iraq

According to interviews conducted by Al-Monitor, the British and US occupations of Iraq might, arguably, have positive repercussions on the country.

Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani (R) addresses the media during a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi 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 - RTR4W8W5

Fate of Kurdish presidency divides Iraqi Kurds

As the term of Kurdish President Massoud Barzani is drawing to an end and as the transfer of power is still unknown, some political parties are suggesting a new parliamentary system whereby Barzani would have a mere ceremonial role.

U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey (L) speaks during news conference with Iraq's Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi in Baghdad March 9, 2015. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4SM9Z

Congress debates greater US role in Iraq

Lawmakers are putting pressure on President Barack Obama to rethink Islamic State strategy after fall of Ramadi.

Pallbearers carry the remains of Iranian soldiers during a ceremony at the Iraq-Iran Shalamcha Border Crossing, in southern Iraq November 30, 2008. Iraq returned to neighbouring Iran the remains of 41 Iranian soldiers killed during the 1980's Iraq-Iran war in exchange for the remains of Iraqi soldiers on Sunday, Iraqi officials said. REUTERS/Atef Hassan (IRAQ) - RTR2245W

Return of 175 Iranian bodies from Iraq stirs painful memories

Iranians shared pictures of Iranian divers from the Iran-Iraq War after Iranian officials reported that the bodies of 175 divers who were reportedly buried alive in the war were returned to Iran.

A member of the Iraq security forces looks at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad May 9, 2015. The attack killed seven civilians and wounded 14 others, police and medical sources said. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX1C8E9

Baghdadis live with constant threat of violence

Amid ravaging terror and repeated security breaches, civilians in Iraq do not feel safe as a customary trip to the coffee shop could cost their lives.

U.S. and Jordanian soldiers participate in Exercise Eager Lion at the Jordan-Saudi Arabia border, south of Amman May 18, 2015. Around 10,000 participants from 18 countries will take part in Eager Lion. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTX1DI9O

Defense spending bill provides boost to Jordan

House Defense appropriators released a FY 2016 bill that seeks to help Jordan fight the Islamic State.

Iraqi Shi'ite youths use computers at an internet cafe in Sadr City in Baghdad May 3, 2014. Iraq is now gripped by its worst violence since the heights of its 2005-2008 sectarian war, and Sunni Islamist insurgents who target Shi'ites have been regaining ground in the country over the past year. But despite the instability, daily life continues in poor Shi'ite neighbourhoods of Baghdad such as Al-Fdhiliya and Sadr City - a sprawling slum marred by poor infrastructure and overcrowding. Picture taken May 3, 20

Iraqis use social media to pressure government

Iraqis are making sure social networking sites can be used to mobilize the public and express opinions against political events and decisions.

Students attend class in the Nafit 1, a modern school built with the aid of a grant from Kuwait, in Basra, southeast of Baghdad November 2, 2014. A country that used to have one of the finest education systems in the Middle East is struggling to provide school students with the basic opportunity to learn. In the southern port city of Basra, many school buildings are in a dilapidated state. Large numbers of children are attending schools that lack even basic water or sanitation facilities, have crumbling wal

Iraq tries to improve human rights through education

Although the Ministry of Education and the Commission on Human Rights in Qadisiyah province are working to introduce human rights principles in schools, the project lacks much-needed support from the state.

A man walks inside the shrine containing the tomb of Jewish prophet Ezekiel in the Iraqi town of Kifl, south of Baghdad, March 25, 2015. Picture taken March 25, 2015. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani - RTR4UYHY

Babil’s Jewish shrine, mosque share space

The tomb of the Prophet Ezekiel, located next to a mosque in Kifl, Babil, is a site of both controversy and religious coexistence.