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Iraq

August 25, 2026

Baghdad 2:22 pm

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Oil falls 1.8% as traders await 'toughest' sanctions on Iran

Traders are awaiting details about new US measures sure to further disrupt Iranian oil flows.

Zaidi

Iraq’s Zaidi doubles down on militia disarmament, boosting oil exports

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi made the comments amid Hormuz-related export struggles and a nearing deadline for armed groups to disarm.

Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, gives a press conference in the autonomous region's capital Arbil on June 25, 2025.

Interview

Barzani calls for enhanced air defense for Kurdistan Region to counter drone attacks

Iraqi Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani backs US-led regional economic integration efforts and lauds US partnership in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor.

Masrour Barzani

Masrour Barzani

KRG Prime Minister

Latest News

Exclusive

Saudi Arabia wants Iran-backed militia 'heads to roll' in Iraq amid talks with Tehran

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Explainer

Iraq seeks special Hormuz access from Iran in scramble to keep oil flowing

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images

Iran’s Ghalibaf makes high-level visit to Iraq ahead of disarmament deadline

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference at the site where Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed by a US airstrike in 2020 near the airport upon his arrival in Baghdad, on Aug. 19, 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

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.

An electrician walks past wires connected to a local generator in Baghdad January 23, 2011. Iraq is slowly getting back on its feet after decades of war and economic sanctions, but a chronic power shortage is hobbling the development of local industry just when it is needed most. An unemployment rate that some officials say runs at 30 percent represents not just an economic challenge but also provides muscle for a lingering insurgency as the sectarian warfare unleashed after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion fades

Iraq's Dysfunctional Elite

A new ruling Iraqi oligarchy is squandering Iraq’s wealth.

Men hold Kurdish flags and a poster of Kurdistan leader Masoud Barazani during a Nowruz celebration organized by Kurdish groups at the seaside town of Rawshe in Beirut, March 21, 2013. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS) - RTR3FA2H

Kurdish National Congress Seeks Unity Amid Divisions

The Kurdish National Congress, to be held in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region on Aug. 24, will seek a common agenda for Kurds divided over the war in Syria.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (C) and acting Defence Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi (L) attend a funeral ceremony for soldiers killed by militants, in Baghdad April 28, 2013. Militants shot dead five Iraqi soldiers in the Sunni Muslim stronghold province of Anbar on Saturday and protesters said they were forming an "army" after four days of unrest that raised fears of a return to widespread sectarian civil conflict. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST) - RTXZ2Y6

Is Maliki Considering Postponing Iraq's Parliamentary Elections?

There is speculation in Baghdad that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki may consider postponing Iraq's parliamentary elections scheduled for next year.