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Iraq

October 15, 2026

Baghdad 11:12 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

Kurdish security forces inspect the site of 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

Iraqi Kurdistan Hit by First Suicide Bombing in Six Years

Employees of Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) count ballots during regional parliamentary elections after the closing of a polling station in Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, September 21, 2013. Iraqi Kurds voted on Saturday for a new parliament that analysts said was poised to lead the oil-producing region further down the road to greater autonomy from Baghdad. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTX

PUK Falls to Third Place In Iraqi Kurdistan Elections

The preliminary electoral results in Iraqi Kurdistan show the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to be the biggest winner, with the new Movement for Change coming in second.

Protesters demand that the pensions of parliamentarians be cancelled during a demonstration in Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) south of Baghdad, August 31, 2013. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Baghdad and central and southern Iraq on Saturday against generous pension payments to lawmakers in a county where many are still struggling to get jobs and basic services. REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed (IRAQ - Tags - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT SOCIETY CIVIL UNREST) - RTX132KF

Iraq's Failed 'Democracy' Disheartens Activists

Amid violence and rampant corruption, many Iraqi youth are frustrated with the slow pace of democratic change in the country.

Young Iraqis Vent Frustrations On Facebook

In light of Iraq’s tightly controlled media and an increasingly dangerous security situation, many of the country’s youth have turned to Facebook to organize protests and voice dissent.

Students attend a class on the first day of the new school term in Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) south of Baghdad, September 24, 2013. REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed (IRAQ - Tags: EDUCATION SOCIETY) - RTX13Y2F

English Learning Lags in Iraq

English is the most daunting and frequently failed subject in Iraq’s end-of-school exams, indicating a need to update teaching methodologies and focus on it earlier.

Shi'ite women react during a mass funeral for victims of Wednesday's bomb attacks on a Shi'ite mosque in Baghdad September 12, 2013. The co-ordinated car and suicide bomb attack on the Shi'ite mosque in the Iraqi capital killed at least 33 people on Wednesday evening, police and medical sources said. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX13IL5

Daily Suicide Bombings Keep Iraqis in State of Shock

As daily bombings and killings in Iraq have risked becoming regarded as mundane and normal, attention has shifted to the Iraqi government’s apparent lack of recognition of the human cost its country’s unstable security situation entails.

An Iraqi couple ride a motorbike during a biker show on Abu Nawas Street in Baghdad October 19, 2012. Drag-racing in California, you say? No, this is Baghdad, where youthful rebellion and American biker style clash with conservative mores in Iraq, a country where just a few years ago militias imposed their own radical Islamic views at gunpoint. Picture taken October 19, 2012. To match Feature IRAQ-CULTURE/BIKERS REUTERS/Saad Shalash (IRAQ - Tags: SOCIETY SPORT MOTORSPORT) - RTR39IOY

Iraq's Sunni-Shiite Killings: When It’s Based on a Name

In a time when something as simple as your name or accent can condemn you to death, many Iraqis, particularly the youth, are distancing themselves from divisive sectarian identities.

Fighters from Iraq's Islamist Shi'ite militias pose for pictures before departing to Syria from Baghdad, June 11, 2013. Syria is splintering the Middle East along a divide between the two main denominations of Islam, becoming a battlefield in a proxy war between Assad's main regional ally, Shi'ite Iran, and his Sunni enemies in Turkey and the Gulf Arab states. As the Syrian war grinds into its third year, sectarian killings are increasing, while hardline Sunni clerics are declaring Jihad or holy war on the

Tracing Syrian Conflict Back to Iraq’s Civil War

The relationship between Iraq and Syria has always been close, yet contradictory, with some arguing that the economic and political results of the Iraqi civil war led to the outbreak of Syria’s current conflict.

Students inside an elementary school watch a passing demonstration of daily-paid workers asking for full-time jobs in Basra, 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad, March 7, 2012. REUTERS/Atef Hassan (IRAQ - Tags: EDUCATION) - RTR2YZ4M

New School Year Challenges Iraqi Families

While some posit that there have been improvements in Iraq’s educational system since 2003, the country still grapples to accommodate its student population just as families struggle to cover basic school expenses.

Yezidi monk Baba Chawish poses in front of an entrance to the Lalish
temple some 50 km north from Iraqi city of Mosul, May 11, 2003. The
Yezidi religion, seen by its followers as the original Kurdish faith,
is believed to date back several thousand years and blends ideas from
sources as diverse as Zoroastrianism, Islam and Christianity.
REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov REUTERS

SZH/AS - RTRNBPT

Iraqi Kurdistan Must Ensure Minority Rights

While the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has long been touted as a stable refuge in an otherwise turbulent region, there have been increasing complaints from the region’s non-Kurdish minorities of discrimination and harassment.

Iraqi Civil Society Struggles To Stay Relevant, Effective

With millions of dollars of foreign aid pouring into Iraq toward civil organizations since 2003, it is time to examine how effectively this money is being used.

Kurdish Parties Build Alliance To Curb Barzani’s Power in Syria

On the eve of elections in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, the Kurdish question in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria becomes even more entangled.