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Iraq

March 13, 2026

Baghdad 11:45 am

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Retired Israeli general and executive director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies Amos Yadlin attends a session at the Manama Dialogue security conference in the Bahraini capital, on Dec. 5, 2020.

Interview

Yadlin: Israel's war goal to weaken Iran, not immediate regime change

Israeli leaders are aware that Washington will decide when the war ends whether or not Israel has achieved its war aims, Yadlin told Al-Monitor.

Commercial vessels are pictured offshore in Dubai on March 11, 2026. AFP via Getty Images

Oil jumps above $100 as energy crisis called worst in history: What to know

The latest spike is the second time in a week that oil prices have climbed above $100 a barrel.

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

Latest News

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

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

Analysis

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

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

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

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

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 Kurdish resident casts his ballot at a box during the regional parliament elections of the Kurdistan region in Baghdad July 25, 2009. Iraqi Kurds voted on Saturday in elections expected to keep Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani in power but unlikely to erase voter concerns about corruption or end a bitter feud with Baghdad over land and oil. REUTERS/Saad Shalash (IRAQ ELECTIONS POLITICS) - RTR260ZV

Barzani Presses for Referendum On Iraqi Kurdistan Constitution

Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani still faces considerable opposition to putting the draft constitution to a referendum.

Workers attend a training class at LUKOIL training centre in the southern city of Basra December 25, 2012. Russian oil firm LUKOIL has opened its first training centre located in al-Rumaila in the southern city of Basra to develop skilled staff to work in its oilfield. The firm, Russia's second-largest crude producer, won a contract to develop the West Qurna-2 oilfield. Picture taken December 25, 2012. REUTERS/Atef Hassan (IRAQ - Tags: ENERGY BUSINESS) - RTR3C2HM

Iraq to Simplify Visa Procedures For Foreign Oil Workers

The Iraqi government has announced that it will simplify entry-visa and residency-permit procedures for foreign oil workers, following complaints that the current lengthy process deters investors.

Iraqi parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi speaks during a news conference in Baghdad July 31, 2011. REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2PHJW

Iraq Needs a Road Map to End Sectarian Violence

Iraq’s religious leaders need to help broker the political compromise that is eluding its political leaders.

Iraq's Shi'ite Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi speaks during a news conference at the Iraqi parliament headquarters in Baghdad September 7, 2010. Abdul-Mahdi thanked the Iraqi National Alliance for choosing him as a prime minister candidate, six months after a general election that produced no clear winner. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2I0GN

Former Vice President Slams Iraq's Economic Policy

In a statement issued on his personal Facebook page, economist and former Iraqi vice president Adil Abdul-Mahdi has vehemently criticized the country’s economic policy.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (L) speaks next to U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey during one of several planned ceremonies to mark the end of American military presence in Iraq, in Baghdad December 1, 2011. The last 13,000 U.S. troops will pull out of Iraq by the end of the year. Violence in the country has dropped sharply since the heights of sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007, but at least 10 people were killed in a bombing just north of the capital Baghdad. REUTERS/Khalid Mohammed/Pool (IRAQ - Tags:

Sadr Wants Talabani to Step Down

Iraqi Shiite Leader Muqtada Al-Sadr is seeking to appoint a new president as questions linger about President Jalal Talabani's return to Iraq.

Kurds take part in a demonstration calling for the release of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, in Strasbourg, eastern France, February 16, 2013. REUTERS/Jean-Marc Loos (FRANCE - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR3DVAE

Iraqi Kurds Call For TurkeyTo Release Ocalan

Iraqi Kurds have launched a petition campaign calling on Turkey for the release of imprisoned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan.

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY OR DEATH

Mourners stand beside coffins of four members of a family killed in Basra bomb attacks, during a funeral in Najaf, around 160 km (99 miles) south of Baghdad May 20, 2013. More than 70 people were killed in a series of car bombings and suicide attacks targeting Shi'ite Muslims across Iraq on Monday, police and medics said, extending the worst sectarian violence since U.S. troops withdrew in December 2011. The attacks increased the number kil

Sectarian Violence Erupts Again Across Iraq

Renewed sectarian violence this week is setting back Iraqi efforts toward national reconciliation.

A general view shot on July 23, 2012 shows portraits of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his late father and predecessor, Hafez al-Assad (back), at the al-Yaroubiya border crossing between Syria and Iraq, close the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Syrian citizens are fleeing to neighboring countries including Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey as fighting between Syrian government forces and Free Syria Army rebels intensifies. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP/GettyImages)

Border Arrests Reveal Disunity, Conflict Among Syrian Kurds

The Democratic Union Party's security forces have arrested 70 members of a rival Kurdish party trying to enter Syria from Iraq.

The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, speaks in a rare video of him posted on the Internet on April 25, 2006. Zarqawi said Mujahideen were fighting on despite a three-year "crusader" war in Iraq. REUTERS/handout - RTR1CSXF

Syrian Cannibalism Video Reminds Iraqis of Zarqawi

A video showing a Syrian rebel commander eating the heart of a regime soldier has dealt a blow to the opposition.

Civilians inspect the scene of a car bomb attack in Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, May 20, 2013. At least 43 people were killed in car bomb explosions targeting Shi'ite Muslims in the Iraqi capital and the southern oil hub of Basra on Monday, police and medics said. The attacks brought the number of people killed in sectarian violence in the past week to almost 200. Tensions between Shi'ites, who now lead Iraq, and minority Sunni Muslims have reached their highest level since U.S. troops pulle

Car Bombings Continue in Iraq While Evidence Remains Scarce

While the recent car bombings in Iraq are similar to past attacks, they have raised serious questions about the performance of Iraq's security forces and their methods of gathering evidence.

Fighters from Islamist Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra take their positions on the front line during a clash with Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad in Aleppo December 24, 2012. Syria special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi discussed solving the country's conflict with President Bashar al-Assad on Monday, but the opposition expressed deepening frustration with the mission following what it called the latest massacre of civilians. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR3BVVN

Jabhat Al-Nusra Shows Its Cracks

What appears to be divisions among the leadership of terrorist allies Jabhat al-Nusra and al-Qaeda in Iraq may signal greater difficulties in controlling radical jihadists in Syria.

A shopkeeper arranges bottles in a shop in the Zayouna area of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, on May 15, 2013, the day after gunmen armed with silenced weapons shot dead 12 people at a row of alcohol shops in the Zayouna area of the capital. AFP PHOTO/ KHALIL AL-MURSHIDI (Photo credit should read KHALIL AL-MURSHIDI/AFP/Getty Images)

Iraq's Yazidis in Crossfire In Baghdad

On May 14, 2013, 12 employees of an alcohol shop in Baghdad, 10 of whom were Yazidis, were killed by armed assailants amid increasing religious extremism in the country.