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Iraq

February 16, 2026

Baghdad 8:07 pm

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Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki delivers a speech during a campaign rally for the State of Law Coalition ahead of the country's parliamentary elections in Baghdad on Nov. 7, 2025.

Analysis

Can Maliki overcome Trump opposition to reclaim Iraq’s PM post?

US President Donald Trump’s opposition to the former prime minister and reports of potential retribution toward Iraq are receiving pushback in the country, which is already suffering from political paralysis.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

SDF commander in chief, Mazlum Kobane, meets with Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, on Feb. 5, 2026.

Exclusive

100 non-Syrian Kurds return to PKK’s Qandil stronghold under SDF-Damascus deal

The transfer of non-Syrian PKK fighters to Iraq’s Qandil Mountains follows a US-brokered SDF-Damascus deal aimed at easing tensions and preserving Kurdish forces under national army oversight.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki speaks during a press conference on May 11, 2011, at the green zone area in Baghdad, Iraq.

Iraq’s Maliki rejects Trump criticism, vows to stay in PM race

Maliki refused to withdraw from the race, despite mounting pressure from the US, and expressed a desire for good relations with Iraq’s neighbors and Washington.

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 13, 2025.

How US-India trade deal could impact Mideast energy, trade routes

The United States and India struck a trade agreement on Monday that eases months of tension between the two countries and could influence Gulf oil flows and economic integration.

Latest News

Iraq's Shiite bloc holds talks with Kurds as deadlock on president, PM persists

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani meets the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, in Erbil on Monday.

Iraqi militias claim volunteers readying to defend Iran from US: What to know

Men sign up to join the "martyrdom brigades" under the umbrella of Iraq's pro-Iran paramilitary group Hezbollah Brigades (Kataib Hezbollah), who called upon Iraqis to volunteer in fighting alongside Iran in the event of a full-scale war with the US and Israel, at a mosque in Baghdad on January 29, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

After Trump’s rebuke, can Maliki rebound in Iraq, or does Sudani become favorite?

(L to R) Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid; Qais al-Khazali, head of the "Asaib Ahl al-Haq"; one of the member factions of the Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) paramilitaries; Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani; and former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki attend an event commemorating the 21st anniversary of the group's creation at a hotel in Baghdad on May 3, 2024.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

‘Very bad choice’: Trump threatens to cut Iraq aid if Maliki returns as PM

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki leaves after casting his ballot at a polling station in Baghdad on Nov. 11, 2025 during Iraq's parliamentary elections.

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 Assyrian Christians attend a ceremony with the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East to elect a new Catholicos-patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, at Saint Youhanna church in Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq on Sept. 18, 2015.

LISTEN: Assyrian Church of the East elects new patriarch

The new leader of the historic church must now navigate the unique political and spiritual challenges facing his shrinking community in Iraq and its worldwide diaspora.

Candidates of the Huquq electoral list pose on stage during a campaign rally, Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 3, 2021.

Iraq focuses on voter security ahead of elections

The Iraqi government has already thwarted attempts at fraud and election rigging ahead of Oct. 10.

A flag of the Islamic State (IS) is seen on the other side of a bridge at the frontline of fighting between Kurdish peshmerga forces and Islamist militants in Rashad, on the road between Kirkuk and Tikrit, on Sept. 11, 2014.

Iraqi PM vows to fix Kirkuk security issues after gruesome Islamic State attack

Following an Islamic State attack in which over a dozen Iraqi policemen were killed, the prime minister criticized military leaders’ “shortcomings” and pledged to address the issue. Meanwhile, counterterrorism operations continue in the same disputed province to prevent further attacks.

Iraqi demonstrators chant slogans during an anti-government demonstration by Basra University students in the southern city of Basra, on Feb. 11, 2020.

Iraqi protest groups will sit out October elections

Iraqi protest groups, which have emerged since October 2019, are calling for wholesale reform of the Iraqi political system.

Employees of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission Center register voters in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in the Dhi Qar province, on Jan. 12, 2021.

Iraqi government says it thwarted cyber plot to rig elections

Iraqi authorities succeeded in uncovering plans by cyber hackers to rig the elections, which may end up persuading Iraqi voters to cast their ballots in October.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkish opposition courts Kurds in trip to Erbil

The Republican People’s Party, Turkey’s main opposition party, has sent a senior delegation to Iraq's Kurdistan Region, perhaps because popular elections have become difficult to win without Kurdish votes.

Staff members at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs work around crates of looted Iraqi antiquities returned by the United States, ahead of a handover ceremony at the ministry in Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 3, 2021.

Norway police seize nearly 100 artifacts reportedly missing from Iraq

The cuneiform tablets and other artifacts were reportedly recovered from a private collection in Norway.

Iraqi Yazidi children ride bicycles as elderly women sit on a ramp in the town of Sheikhan, some 50km northeast of Mosul, on July 15, 2021.

Threatened Yazidi interpreters in Iraq say Afghan evacuation a wake-up call

Former Iraqi interpreters already hunted because of their faith say the rush to rescue wartime allies from Taliban-run Afghanistan should serve as a cautionary tale.

An Iraqi woman updates her voter registration at the Independent High Electoral Commission Center in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in the Dhi Qar province on Jan. 12, 2021.

International observers prepare for Iraq's elections

Hundreds of international observers are gearing up for the legislative elections in Iraq on Oct. 10 in an attempt to help Iraqis conduct transparent and fair elections.

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L) shakes hands with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan before a meeting in Ankara on Feb. 28, 2012.

Iraqi Kurdish leader helps ease Turkey-UAE tensions

Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani helped facilitate a recent phone call between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

Taliban victory inspires pro-Iran militias in Iraq

The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has encouraged Sunni extremist armed groups in Syria and pro-Iran Shiite militias in Iraq.

(L to R) Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim al-Thani, French President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, and Jordan's King Abdullah II pose for a group picture after the meeting in Baghdad on Aug. 28, 2021.

Baghdad conference to establish cooperation, partnership in region

Baghdad Conference stressed the neccessity of supporting Iraq, providing a great boost to the Iraqi government.