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Iraq

October 13, 2026

Baghdad 8:36 am

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Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters arrive in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk on May 14, 2013, after leaving Turkey as part of a peace drive with Ankara.

Explainer

PKK pulls out of Metina in northern Iraq amid Turkey peace process

The withdrawal comes as the peace process between Turkey and the militant group gains momentum alongside increasing security cooperation between Ankara and Baghdad.

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.

Latest News

Analysis

After US exit, Iran gains space in Iraq and a harder balancing act

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.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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.

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

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.

A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter takes up position with his weapon as he keeps watch, on the outskirts of Mosul January 26, 2015. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are digging trenches and building defense berms in Wadi al-Ghorab (Valley Of The Crows), less than 2 km away from the IS-held Sultan Abdullah village, which demarcates the new border of their autonomous region. The Kurds have enjoyed de facto self rule since the first Gulf War in 1991. They are now closer than ever to achieving their dream of full independen

Who has 'boots on the ground' in fight against IS?

A mismatch in priorities between the United States and its Sunni allies is obliging the Obama administration to rely more on Iran-backed forces to fight the group that calls itself the Islamic State.

Sunni worshippers attend prayers during Eid al-Fitr as they mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, at a Sunni mosque in Baghdad July 28, 2014. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ - Tags: RELIGION) - RTR40CC0

Sunnis, Shiites show unity in Najaf

While the news headlines scream of sectarian violence, many everyday Iraqis tell a different story of cohesion and solidarity in cities where the displaced have gathered.

Coffins of victims killed in air strikes are carried by villagers during a funeral ceremony in Gulyazi near the southeastern Turkish town of Uludere, in Sirnak province, December 30, 2011. Turkish rights groups called on Friday for a U.N.-sponsored investigation after Turkish warplanes killed 35 villagers in an airstrike targeting Kurdish rebels on the Iraqi border that the government has called an operational mistake. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2VQMB

Turkey shuts down smugglers by shooting mules

The tension in villages of Uludere in Turkey that lost 34 people in an airstrike by the Turkish air force three years ago persists and frequently develops into confrontations with Turkish soldiers.

An Iraqi man and a child ride a small motorcycle through the streets of Baghdad on February 20, 2008. Moqtada al-Sadr's six-month freeze on attacks by his Mahdi Army has strengthened his hand and allowed him to purge dissidents from the ranks of the militia, analysts and aides of the Shiite cleric said. Sadr, long a thorn in the side of US-led forces in Iraq, is expected to announce on February 22, 2008 whether he will renew his unilateral ceasefire, set to expire the day after. AFP PHOTO/PATRICK BAZ (Photo

Forget Uber, Iraqis strap into satoutas

Struggling to make ends meet, Iraqis have innovated a new means to transport goods and people for little money, which has been competing with taxi drivers.

Turkish military wary of Erdogan plan for Syrian buffer zone

The United States remains opposed to a no-fly zone in northern Syria; Masrour Barzani calls for "amicable divorce" for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; Jacky Hugi writes that Israel should back the Syrian government "at any price."

Kurdish peshmerga forces take part in a training session at a training camp on the outskirts of Dohuk province April 7, 2015. The coalition forces were training Kurdish peshmerga soldiers on how to fight in street battles. REUTERS/Ari Jalal - RTR4WE6F

New units step toward reforming Kurdish peshmerga

Some Kurdish officials are hopeful that new peshmerga brigades will be immune to politicization.

Masrour Barzani, Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council, speaks during a press conference on October 12, 2013. Tight security measures imposed after a rare deadly attack in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region have curbed tourism ahead of the year's biggest Muslim holiday, industry officials and business owners say. AFP PHOTO / SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)

Masrour Barzani: Kurdish independence would help defeat IS

Masrour Barzani, chief of the Iraqi Kurdish intelligence services, talks to Al-Monitor about delays in international support against the Islamic State.

Jordanian soldiers participate with special operations forces from Pakistan, Jordan, France and the U.S. in a boarding drill during Exercise Eager Lion in the coastal city of Aqaba May 18, 2015. Around 10,000 participants from 18 countries will take part in Eager Lion. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTX1DIDC

IS threat could push Jordan beyond its borders

Despite the imminent terrorist threat, some Jordanians reject the necessity to intervene in Syrian and Iraqi territory.

A metalworker fixes a tank, known as Duldul, in Basra, southeast of Baghdad March 4, 2015. In a military scrapyard in the southern Iraqi desert, abandoned army equipment sat for years waiting to be melted down to steel bars. Now, thanks to new conflict and a resourceful old mechanic, some of the rusty warhorses have won a reprieve. Picture taken March 4, 2015. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTR4SX7P

Iraq's defunct military industry

Some Iraqi parties are calling for the reactivation of the Military Industry Commission, a relic of Saddam Hussein's rule, in order to jump-start investment.