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Iraq

May 10, 2026

Baghdad 12:05 am

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Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr gives a speech in Iraq's central holy shrine city of Najaf on August 30, 2022.

Iraq’s Sadr says 'exclude' armed groups from next government as pressure builds

The cleric's call comes as Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi tries to form a government amid political divisions and US demands to curb the influence of Iran-backed actors.

Popular Mobilization Forces

US sets expectations for Iraq’s next PM to confront Iranian militias

The Trump administration is cautiously sizing up Iraq’s new prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, as a potential partner in pushing back on Iranian influence.

Zaidi

Analysis

Iraq’s Zaidi offers economic promise for Turkey but unknowns loom

Iraq’s prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, is expected to sustain growing economic and strategic ties with Turkey thanks to his business-oriented approach, though uncertainty over his political stance could test cooperation on sensitive issues.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Analysis

US banking on Iraqi turnaround with nomination of Zaidi as new PM

Ali Al-Zaidi

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Trump congratulates Iraq PM-designate Zaidi in call: What to know

Iraq's prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, at Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's office on April 28, 2026.

Meet Ali al-Zaidi, businessman and Iraq's new prime minister-designate

Prime Minister Mohammed S. al-Sudani met with Prime Minister-designate Ali Faleh al-Zaidi on April 28, 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

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.

Iraqi Shi'ite al Hawza cleric Sheikh Jassim Al-Saidi prays in a Baghdad
mosque June 3, 2003 after being released from detention by U.S. forces.
Al-Saidi said that he had been accused of instigating violence towards
American forces occupying Iraq. REUTERS/Faleh Kheiber REUTERS

CLH/ - RTROS2A

Competition Heats Up Between Qom, Najaf

The long-standing competition for influence between Shiites' two holiest cities is growing.

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters stand at formation in northern Iraq May 14, 2013. The first group of Kurdish militants to withdraw from Turkey under a peace process entered northern Iraq on Tuesday, and were greeted by comrades from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), in a symbolic step towards ending a three-decades-old insurgency. The 13 men and women, carrying guns and with rucksacks on their backs, arrived in the area of Heror, near Metina mountain on the Turkish-Iraqi border, a Reuters witness sa

PKK Members Withdraw To Iraqi Kurdistan

Following a call by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan from prison on Imrali island, members of the party have begun to move from Turkey into the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

An Iraqi man casts his vote at a polling station in Basra, 420 km (261 miles) southeast of Baghdad, April 20, 2013. Iraqis voted for provincial councils on Saturday in their first ballot since U.S. troops left the country, a key measure of political strength before parliamentary elections next year. REUTERS/Atef Hassan (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTXYT1X

Basra Becomes Battleground For Iraqi Politics

Basra has become Iraq’s latest political battleground as the country’s prominent Shiite factions seek to win over the local population of the majority-Shiite city in southern Iraq.

A view of a destroyed makeshift camp at a public square in Hawija, near Kirkuk, 170 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad April 23, 2013. Iraqi forces stormed the Sunni Muslim protest camp on Tuesday, and more than 50 people were killed in the ensuing clashes which spread beyond the town of Hawija, to other areas. Picture taken April 23, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS) - RTXYZEU

Iraqi Judiciary Opens Hawija Investigation

Nearly a month after the deadly attacks on protesters by internal security forces in the town of Hawija, Iraq’s judiciary investigates the events and the people involved.

Iraq's Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani (L) and Ali Babeer, the leader of the Kurdish Islamic Group, hold a news conference in Arbil, 310 km (193 miles) north of Baghdad July 27, 2009. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ CONFLICT) - RTR264CT

Iraqi Politics Needs a Roadmap For the Future

Following Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani’s visit to Baghdad at the end of April, Iraq’s political class still has many challenges.

A customer counts Iraqi dinars at a money changer in Baghdad October 1, 2012. Many Iraqis have lost faith in their dinar currency but to some foreign speculators, it promises big profits. The contrast underlines the uncertainties of investing in Iraq as the country recovers from years of war and economic sanctions. Picture taken October 1, 2012. To match IRAQ-ECONOMY/DINAR REUTERS/Saad Shalash (IRAQ - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS) - RTR38QU1

Baghdad Struggles to Halt Devaluation of Iraqi Dinar

The Central Bank of Iraq has taken measures to slow the fall of the Iraqi dinar, which has plummeted against the US dollar in recent weeks.