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Iraq

October 15, 2026

Baghdad 4:13 pm

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Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Oct. 14, 2026, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Iraq’s Zaidi, Saudi crown prince discuss security as Houthi attacks escalate

Iraq has moved to improve ties with Saudi Arabia after Iran-backed militias struck the kingdom and amid the conflict with the Houthis in Yemen.

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

In a break from past policies, the new governments in Damascus and Baghdad are clamping down on militant groups with the capacity or desire to harm regional partners.

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.

Latest News

Explainer

What Iraq’s US troop withdrawal means for security after Kirkuk killings

A member of the Iraqi security forces flashes the victory sign during a military parade

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.

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

Policemen check oil pipelines during a patrol in Shueiba refinery in Iraq's southern province of Basra August 26, 2010. Baghdad has signed multi-billion deals with oil firms to boost output capacity to 12 million barrels a day in seven years, rivalling top oil exporter Saudi Arabia. That could give Iraq the money it needs to rebuild after decades of war, sanctions and economic degradation. But everything depends on whether the OPEC member can secure its vital oilfields, refineries and other infrastructure a

Iran wary of Iraqi plans to increase oil exports

Though its own exports are limited by international sanctions, Iran has criticized Iraq’s intentions to fill the market gap by increasing its own oil exports.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (C) listens to his advisor (L) as he walks in for a press briefing with Bahrain Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa in Manama, November 24, 2013. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed (BAHRAIN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX15R41

The Davutoglu charm offensive

Despite some new messages from Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, a "reset" of Turkey’s foreign policy seems a stretch.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (L) arrive to speak to reporters at the State Department in Washington November 18, 2013.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX15J4C

Turkey resets ties with US

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu boldly characterizes the relationship with Washington as "the backbone of Turkey’s foreign policy."

Iraqi Shi'ite radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (C) takes part in Friday prayers at the Kufa mosque near Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad May 10, 2013. REUTERS/Ahmad Mousa (IRAQ - Tags: RELIGION) - RTXZHC5

Sadr blends religion, populism in Iraqi politics

The populist Shiite Sadrist Movement demonstrates its leader’s ability to bring a new dynamic to the political scene in Iraq, which is too often marked by polarization and extremism.

Diplomats from the United States and Israel are silhouetted as they join about 100 mourners at a ceremony, held on Thursday in memory of veteran Jewish leader Carmen Weinstein, at Sha'ar Hashamayim (Gate of Heaven) synagogue in downtown Cairo, April 18, 2013. Weinstein, 82, died last Saturday at her home in Cairo where she was known over the past two decades for leading efforts to preserve the overwhelmingly Muslim country's Jewish heritage. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (EGYPT - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS OBITUARY) -

Jews from Arab countries: the forgotten refugees

A UN conference addresses the status of Jews from Arab states who were expelled from their homeland after the creation of the state of Israel.

Iraq's Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani votes at a polling station in Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad September 21, 2013. Kurds went to the polls on Saturday to elect a new parliament in an election that is being dubbed as the most crucial in the history of Iraqi Kurdish political powers, with potential to change the political structure of the next parliament and government cabinet.About 1,129 candidates representing 32 political entities are co

Turkey, Iran influence Iraqi Kurdistan politics

The post-election politics of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is subject to relationships among Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

Women mourn during a funeral of a victim killed in a bomb attack, in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, November 14, 2013. A suicide bomber blew himself up during a Shi'ite Muslim religious ritual in the eastern Iraqi city of al-Sadiya on Thursday, killing at least 35 people and wounding 75, a senior official and security sources said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which came on the day of Ashura, a holy ritual when Shi'ites commemorate the death of Imam Hussein, a gra

Where is 'Democracy Brigade' to fight sectarian terrorists?

The proliferation of sectarian violence overwhelms the region, which needs a democratic backlash.

Shi'ite pilgrims run between the Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas shrines as part of a ritual of the Ashura ceremony in Kerbala, 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Baghdad, November 14, 2013. During Ashura, Shi'ite Muslims commemorate the slaying of Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein in Kerbala in 680 AD. The most important day in the Shi'ite calendar, Ashura has become a show of strength in Iraq for a majority whose public worship was repressed by former dictator Saddam Hussein. REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed (IRAQ - Ta

Iraq's religious minorities and Shiite mourning holidays

Mandeans and Christians in Iraq adjust to and sometimes join the commemorations of the death of Hussein bin Ali during the lengthy Shiite mourning period.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) and President of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani greet people during a ceremony in Diyarbakir November 16, 2013. The president of Iraqi Kurdistan called on Turkey's Kurds to back a flagging peace process with Ankara on Saturday, making his first visit to southeastern Turkey in two decades in a show of support for PM Erdogan. Barzani's trip to Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast, comes as Ankara finalises billions of dollars of energy d

Erdogan-Barzani 'Diyarbakir encounter' milestone

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for the first time ever, says "Kurdistan."

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, President of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani (L) and Kurdish poet and singer Sivan Perwer (R), who had fled Turkey in the 1970s, greet people, as they are flanked by politicians and chidren during a ceremony in Diyarbakir November 16, 2013. The president of Iraqi Kurdistan called on Turkey's Kurds to back a flagging peace process with Ankara on Saturday, making his first visit to southeastern Turkey in two decades in a show of support for Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan

An atmosphere of peace, not of farewell

Kurdistan Region of Iraq President Massoud Barzani joined Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a historic visit to Diyarbakir.

A demonstrator gestures as he stands behind burning barricades during a protest in the Tuzlucayir neighbourhood of Ankara September 9, 2013. Billed as a symbol of peace between two faiths, a new place of worship has turned Tuzlucayir, a poor suburb of Ankara, into a battleground and exposed wider sectarian tensions within Turkey. The project's blueprint envisages a Sunni mosque rising side by side with a new cemevi, or assembly house, to be used by Alevis, Turkey's biggest religious minority. But with its c

Turkey’s Alevi question

The government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to heal old wounds with Turkey’s Alevi community, while stepping back from sectarian regional policies.

Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) head Saleh Muslim speaks during a conference in Paris November 13, 2013. Islamist groups in northern Syria are weakening after months of fighting and Kurdish militias are gaining ground, top Kurdish leader Muslim said on Wednesday, vowing to continue their advances. To match SYRIA-KURDS/ REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX15C6C

Kurds divided over Syrian autonomy

The Democratic Union Party (PYD) is proceeding with its plans for a transitional government in the Kurdistan region of western Syria, despite the opposition of the Kurdish National Council and Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani.