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Iraq

May 7, 2026

Baghdad 8:54 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

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of the parliament of his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara on June 24, 2014. AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Erdogan: 'No one should expect me to provoke ISIS'

Turkey pursues a cautious policy while Iraq's military crisis escalates.

Iraq’s ambassador to US: war with ISIS 'acid test' of US-Iraq ties

Lukman Faily, Iraq’s ambassador to the United States, says that in light of the urgency of the Iraq crisis, “we will not be in a position to choose our partners and whoever is available to help us in our survival war, then we will take that.”

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, April 20, 2014. For Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, a politician who saw himself as the one who rescued Iraq from civil war in the last decade, the current state of affairs amounts to a stunning reversal of fortune as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters inch towards the capital and Shiite militias he vanquished assert their influence again. Picture taken April 20, 2014. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ

Allawi: US policy toward Iraq 'without a compass'

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi says that the Iraqi army "has lost its identity and its role" as a result of the current Iraqi government's policies.

A woman buys bread at a bakery in the city of Mosul, June 24, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held crisis talks with leaders of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Tuesday urging them to stand with Baghdad in the face of a Sunni insurgent onslaught that threatens to dismember the country. Picture taken June 24, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT BUSINESS FOOD SOCIETY) - RTR3VNJJ

Iraqis fear uncertain future in areas under 'Islamic State'

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is not the only group operating in regions now under its banner.

A Jordanian police stands guard at a checkpoint near the Jordanian Karameh border crossing at the Jordanian-Iraqi border, near Ruweished city, June 25, 2014. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3VOZ6

Jordan shaken by threats from ISIS, Iraq, Syria

The kingdom faces a security crisis over conflicts involving neighboring Iraq and Syria, a jihadist enclave on its border, waves of refugees, and returning terrorist fighters from both countries.

Iraqi Sunni Muslims take part in an anti-government demonstration in Ramadi, 100 km (62 miles) west of Baghdad,April 19, 2013. Thousands of Sunni Muslims protested after Friday prayers in huge rallies against Shi'ite Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, demanding that he step down. REUTERS/Ali al-Mashhadani (IRAQ - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXYSEV

Saudi Arabia sees allies among Iraq's Sunni tribes

The kingdom is distinguishing between Sunni tribes opposed to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and terrorist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

A member of the Iraqi security forces takes position during a patrol looking for militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) at the border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, June 23, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Iraq's prime minister in Baghdad on Monday to push for a more inclusive government, even as Baghdad's forces abandoned the border with Jordan, leaving the entire Western frontier outside government control. REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS M

Saudi Arabia threatened by ISIS advance in Iraq

Despite their problems with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Saudi leaders consider the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) a threat to the kingdom.

A fighter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) holds an ISIL flag and a weapon on a street in the city of Mosul, June 23, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held crisis talks with leaders of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Tuesday urging them to stand with Baghdad in the face of a Sunni insurgent onslaught that threatens to dismember the country. Picture taken June 23, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3VIB1

Fars News objects to Arab media coverage of Iraq

Fars News has criticized Arab-language media coverage of Iraq, revealing some of Iran's concerns about the crisis.

Jordanian military helicopters fly near Ruweished, near Jordan's eastern border with Iraq, east of Amman June 23, 2014. Sunni tribesmen took control of a border crossing between Iraq and Jordan after Iraq's army pulled out of the area following clashes with rebels, Iraqi and Jordanian intelligence sources said on Monday. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3V9QN

Israel sees Jordan as buffer against regional 'madness'

Most Israeli security officials wonder how much longer Jordan can cope with the threats on its other borders.

- PHOTO TAKEN 12MAY1999 - Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein (R) is decorated with a medal presented to him by his deputy Izzat Ibrahim in Baghdad in this May 12, 1999 file photo. Ibrahim, the most senior member of the former regime, has died, [Al Arabiya satellite television quoted a Baath party statement as saying on Friday.] He is number six on the U.S. military's list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis, with a $10 million reward offered for his capture. - RTXNYC5

Iraq's 'Sunni' rebellion shows splits between ISIS, others

After mostly ejecting government forces from Sunni areas, the differences over the next stage between ISIS and other Sunni factions will soon emerge.

Flames rise from an Egyptian pipeline distribution station after an attack in the Sinai peninsula July 12, 2011. Saboteurs blew up the distribution station in northern Sinai on Tuesday that supplies natural gas to Israel, the official MENA news agency said. It was the fourth attack on facilities supplying Egyptian gas to Israel this year. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR2OS5A

Will ISIS find fertile ground in Egypt's Sinai?

Tribal elders in the Sinai Peninsula say links are growing between local jihadists from Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

Syrian Kurdish leader: Turkey turns blind eye to ISIS

Salih Muslim, the leader of the Syrian Kurdish movement PYD, gives an exclusive interview to Al-Monitor on post-Mosul developments and Turkey's alleged support for ISIS.