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Iraq

May 9, 2026

Baghdad 2:12 am

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Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr gives a speech in Iraq's central holy shrine city of Najaf on August 30, 2022.

Iraq’s Sadr says 'exclude' armed groups from next government as pressure builds

The cleric's call comes as Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi tries to form a government amid political divisions and US demands to curb the influence of Iran-backed actors.

Popular Mobilization Forces

US sets expectations for Iraq’s next PM to confront Iranian militias

The Trump administration is cautiously sizing up Iraq’s new prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, as a potential partner in pushing back on Iranian influence.

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

Latest News

Analysis

US banking on Iraqi turnaround with nomination of Zaidi as new PM

Ali Al-Zaidi

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Trump congratulates Iraq PM-designate Zaidi in call: What to know

Iraq's prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, at Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's office on April 28, 2026.

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.

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 Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki speaks during Baghdad Day celebrations at al-Zawra park in Baghdad November 15, 2008. REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud (IRAQ) - RTXAMED

Will US, Iran Back Maliki In Iraqi Elections?

While the US and Iran both support Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, sectarian violence is nonetheless on the rise.

An Iraqi man sells tickets at the Atlas Cinema in the Iraqi city of Basra on May 27, 2003. Basra's cinemas closed this month after threats from radical Muslims but reopened on Tuesday, although they are showing only action and Arabic films and not the more popular "romance" movies. - RTXLZXN

Iraq’s Film Industry Hits Bottom

Once a popular pastime among Iraqis, cinema attendance has all but disappeared since 2003, to the detriment of youth aspiring to study cinema at Iraqi universities.

Iraq's Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Mohammed al-Askari holds a news conference in Baghdad January 18, 2010. Askari showed a picture of an al-Qaeda member named Ali Mamoun Qasim, who they say is a pharmacist responsible for killing military officers and wounding Iraqi police at a hospital in Mosul. REUTERS/Saad Shalash (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST) - RTR290V1

Al-Qaeda Sinks Roots in Mosul

Al-Qaeda continues to gain strength in Iraq, taxing the residents of Mosul, attacking minorities and "collaborators" and making the city a base of operations in Ninevah province.

Iraq's Civil Society Under Siege

Increasing reports of hostility against Iraq’s burgeoning civil society organizations have shed light on the way politics motivates violence and divisions in the country today.

Iraq's Rare Animals Threatened by Violence

A general lack of awareness has led to increasing cases of local Iraqi populations randomly killing rare animals they encounter.

Iraqi Shi'ite fighters salute to the shrine of Sayeda Zeinab, the granddaughter of Prophet Mohammad, at Sayeda Zainab area in Damascus May 25, 2013. Picture taken May 25, 2013. REUTERS/ Alaa Al-Marjani (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) ) - RTX104SW

Iraqi Shiites join Syria war

Many Iraqi Shiites are joining the fight in Syria, by first receiving weapons training in Iran and then traveling to Lebanon, from where they are taken to Damascus by Hezbollah.

A man walks past the site of a car bomb attack outside an ice cream parlour in the Al-Mashtal district in Baghdad, October 19, 2013. At least five people were killed in the attack and 15 others were wounded, police said. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX14GKJ

Iraqi Government Cannot Stop Terrorists

Amid mounting questions on the efficiency of Iraq’s security apparatus, the Interior Ministry proves unable to provide even rough statistics on the daily bombings that afflict the country.

Civilians look at the bodies of victims of an attack in the village of Mwafaqiya, in Nineveh province, October 17, 2013. A suicide bomber driving a truck packed with explosives blew himself up in a village in northern Iraq, killing at least 11 people early on Thursday, police said. The attack targeted members of Iraq's predominantly Shi'ite Shabak minority in the village of Mwafaqiya in Nineveh province. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX14F5M

Syria Crisis Sidelines Iraq

While the world focuses on Syria, Iraq endures daily carnage and a security situation that is spiraling out of control.

Flags of the al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant are hung on The Martyrs Church in Raqqa city centre September 27, 2013. The Al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant removed crosses from The Martyrs Church in Raqqa and hoisted their flags on Thursday, activists say. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: RELIGION CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX14223

Jihadist Websites Linked to Syria Thriving on Internet

The rise of Islamist groups in Syria’s civil war has shed light on the proliferation of extremist ideologies and communication via discrete Internet networks.

Policemen operate a checkpoint in Baghdad October 17, 2011. As U.S. troops prepare to withdraw from Iraq, Baghdad security officials believe Iraqi forces are now more capable of containing violence, and plan to steadily cut back on checkpoints by around 50 percent and remove the blast walls in the city by the beginning of next year before reviewing the security situation again. Picture taken October 17, 2011. To match feature IRAQ-BAGHDAD/ REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST

Iraq: Tinted Cars and Ghost-like Officials

Iraqi officials and influential figures often distance themselves from average citizens, hiding behind tinted car windows and under the protection of extensive security details.

A Kurdish female fighter from the Popular Protection Units (YPG) carries a walkie-talkie as she stands near fellow fighters carrying their weapons and using binoculars in the Kurdish town of Ifrin, in Aleppo's countryside October 14, 2013. Kurds comprise around 10 percent of Syria's 23 million population. They are concentrated in Ifrin and other areas of the northwest, in parts of Damascus and in the northeastern oil producing area of Qamishli, where there has also been intense fighting between Kurds and al

Syrian Kurds Beset by Divisions

Syrian Kurds are resisting efforts by Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani to exert influence over their movement.

Kurdish security forces react after a bomb attack in the city of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, September 29, 2013. Six people were killed on Sunday in a series of explosions outside a security directorate in the capital of Iraq's usually peaceful autonomous Kurdistan region, security and medical sources said. Gunfire could be heard after the blasts in Arbil that wounded a further 36 people, according to the city's health directorate. The vi

KRG Responds to Article On Terrorist Bombing in Erbil

In a letter to the editor, a director in the office of the Kurdistan Regional Government's Representation to the US, Karwan Zebari, responds to Denise Natali's Al-Monitor article "Prison Break, Suicide, Bombing, Rock Iraqi Kurdistan."