Iraq - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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Iraq

March 12, 2026

Baghdad 5:18 pm

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Fighters lift flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed a day earlier in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023.

US warns of kidnapping threat in Iraq as Iran-backed militia hits diplomatic facility

A number of US-related sites have been targeted by Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq, prompting Baghdad to bolster its air defenses.

The sun sets behind burning gas flares at the Dora Oil Refinery Complex in Baghdad on Nov. 24, 2025.

Exclusive

Baghdad, US turn to Iraqi Kurds for oil exports as Iran war hits supplies

Baghdad wants Kurdish pipelines to move up to 200,000 barrels per day to global markets, but Erbil is demanding relief from a dollar embargo and greater autonomy over trade.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters affiliated with PAK train on Jan. 18, 2026, near Erbil, Iraq.

Why Israel's looking to Kurds to make gains against Iran regime

Israeli-Kurdish relations are rooted in a common struggle against Islamic extremism and the Kurds’ strategic presence across Turkey, Syria and Iran.

Osama Al Maqdoni / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

CIA, Mossad bolster Iran’s Kurds as US, Israel seek to ignite military revolt

Israel hopes Iran’s Kurds, and other minorities, will mobilize to help bring down the Iranian regime.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Latest News

Which 6 Kurdish groups could join the war in Iran?

A picture from the formation of the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan on Feb. 22, 2026.

Exclusive

US-backed Kurdish forces poised to enter Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan 'within days'

A member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) participates in a military drill in an outpost near Erbil, Kurdistan region of Iraq on Jan. 15, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

Kurds see opening yet remain wary as Trump seeks help to oust Iran regime

An Iranian Kurdish Peshmerga member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) inspects damage sustained at the Azadi Camp of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) following an Iranian cross-border attack in the town of Koye (Koysinjaq), in the east of Erbil district in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq on March 3, 2026. The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, with the killing of Iran's supreme leader and the Islamic republic retaliated with barr

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Turkey to repatriate its ISIS fighters from Iraq as jihadis escalate Syria attacks

Women and children seen inside al-Hol camp, amongst them some 6,200 women and children from around 40 nationalities, and including relatives of suspected Islamic State jihadists in the desert region of Hasakah province on Jan. 25, 2026 in Al Hasakah, Syria.

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

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari speaks at the Diplomatic and Political Joint Coordinating Committee meeting hosted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the State Department in Washington August 15, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX12MHG

Iraqi Official: Rouhani 'Means Serious Business' With US

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari says the Iranian leadership could have prevented Hassan Rouhani from becoming president if it wanted to continue hard-line policies toward the United States.

Kurdish Peshmerga troops are deployed on the outskirts of Kirkuk, some 250km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, November 24, 2012. Iraq's Kurdish region has sent reinforcements to a disputed area where its troops are involved in a standoff with the Iraqi army, a senior Kurdish military official said, despite calls on both sides for dialogue to calm the situation. Picture taken November 24, 2012. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: CONFLICT POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3AUX2

Iraqi Kurdish Forces Help Defend Baghdad

The increase of terrorist bombings in Baghdad has been a catalyst for more consultation between Iraqi federal and Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces.

An aerial view of the city of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, March 19, 2013. Picture taken March 19, 2013. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: CITYSCAPE) - RTR3F8BQ

Iraqi Kurdistan’s Silent Revolution

The KRG is becoming more, not less, dependent upon Baghdad to finance its social welfare programs through oil rents.

An Iraqi policeman stands guard outside a Sunni mosque during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Baghdad, August 8, 2013. The Eid al-Fitr festival marks the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: RELIGION) - RTX12DJC

Al-Qaeda Looks to Build Support Among Iraq's Sunnis

In Iraq's highly polarized sectarian climate, al-Qaeda has presented itself as the "defender of the Sunnis" to increase its support and influence.

Iraqi women work in the brick factory in the town of Nahrawan east of Baghdad, March 8, 2012. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT) - RTR2Z1EF

Iraqi Women Face Workplace Discrimination

In light of conservative social traditions and an unfavorable legal system, Iraqi women struggle to find work.

A youth casts his vote into a ballot box during the Iraq's provincial elections at a polling station in Ramadi, 100 km (62 miles) west of Baghdad, June 20, 2013. REUTERS/Ali al-Mashhadani (IRAQ - Tags - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS) - RTX10ULM

Iraqi Youth Seek New Direction For Failed Politics

Disaffected Iraqi youth are increasingly doubtful of the country’s potential for democracy.

$Members of the new Iraqi Parliament attend a session at the Parliament headquarters in Baghdad, November 11, 2010. Iraq's fractious politicians have agreed to return Shi'ite Nuri al-Maliki as prime minister, ending an eight-month deadlock that raised fears of renewed sectarian war, but leaving some Sunnis sceptical he can forge national unity. The pact on top government posts brings together Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds in a power-sharing arrangement similar to the last Iraqi government and could help prevent$

Iraqi Activists Seek to End Pensions for Parliament

Post-retirement pensions for members of Iraq's Council of Representatives has provoked a heated debate among Iraqi civil activists.

A man reads a copy of the magazine "Israel-Kurd" at a street in Arbil, 310 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad August 16, 2009. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ SOCIETY) - RTR26SCA

Rebuilding Bridges to Iraq's Jewish Heritage

Iraq's Jewish community is remembered with both nostalgia and tragedy.

Shi'ite Muslims attend Friday prayers in Baghdad's Sadr City, June 28, 2013. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ - Tags: RELIGION) - RTX114LH

Friday Sermons Used to Incite At Iraqi Mosques

With the liberation afforded by the fall of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s regime, Friday sermons at Iraq’s mosques have become platforms for oftentimes escalatory political discourse.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran

Iranian clergymen debate at Talebiye seminary before noon prayer ceremony in Tabriz historic market, 633 km (393 miles) northwest of Tehran, early morning August 28, 2011. The Tabriz market was located along the Silk Road trade route and comprised of interlinked structures and spaces for various commercial, religious and educational uses. This market has been registered a

Iran on Quest to Legitimize Velayat-e Faqih in Iraqi Seminaries

Iran has always tried to secure religious legitimacy for its velayat-e faqih doctrine by supporting loyalists in the Qom and Najaf Shiite seminaries.

Smoke rises from the site of a bomb attack in Baghdad July 16, 2011. A parked car bomb targeting a night club killed two people and wounded nine others in central Baghdad, police and hospital sources said. Another police source said only six people were wounded by a roadside bomb. REUTERS/Saad Shalash (IRAQ - Tags: CONFLICT) - RTR2OXMP

Baghdad Nightlife Cloaked in Fear

Amid curfews and an unstable security environment, Iraqis in the nightlife business live in constant fear of militia attacks, security raids and customer brawls.

Syria Splits Shiite Clergy in Iraq, Iran

While Shiite authorities in Iran and Iraq have historically had a close relationship, Iran has been dismayed by Najafi clerics's refusal to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war.