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Iraq

June 18, 2026

Baghdad 7:00 pm

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Tom Barrack

Exclusive

Barrack heads to Iraq as US presses Baghdad on Iran-backed militias

US envoy Tom Barrack is due to meet with Iraq’s new prime minister and other top officials in Baghdad, where he will likely press US demands for Iran-backed Shiite militias be dismantled and disarmed.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Members of the Iranian national soccer team including midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh (R) arrive at Tijuana International Airport on June 7, 2026, in Tijuana, Mexico.

Culture

World Cup opens amid visa disputes for Iran, Iraq and Somalia

Iran says a number of team staff were denied entry into the US, with Trump administration officials touting efforts to prevent affiliates of designated terrorist groups from entering.

Latest News

Syria says Iraqi oil shipments surge as Damascus courts foreign energy investment

A long convoys of Iraqi diesel-laden tanker trucks line up along the highway Tartus-Baniyas highway as they wait to unload their cargo at the Baniyas port refinery on the Mediterranean Sea, on April 15, 2026.

Israel-Iran escalation grounds flights across parts of Middle East

An Airbus A321 airliner arrives at the Mehrabad international airport during the delivery of the first batch of planes to the Iranian state airline Iran Air in the capital Tehran on Jaunary 12, 2017. - The aircraft arrived as part of an order for 100 other Airbus planes with a list price of around $20 billion (19 billion euros) on December 22, placed after the lifting of international sanctions on the Islamic republic. It will be used for internal flights landed at Tehran's Mehrabad airport. (Photo by ATTA

Culture

10 MENA teams at 2026 World Cup: Morocco eyes title, Iran faces visa hurdles

Morocco's midfielder Azzedine Ounahi celebrates scoring with teammates during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group E African qualification football match between Morocco and Niger at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat on September 5, 2025. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP)

Analysis

Turkey pushes Iraq, Syria trade routes as Hormuz crisis disrupts Gulf shipping

Vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the port city of Khasab on Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula, on May 17, 2026.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Members of the Cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) headed by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani pose for a photograph in Erbil.

Family power grab in Iraqi Kurdistan raises fears of intra-Kurdish violence

Talabanis strip their cousin of all powers amid a power struggle in the Kurdistan Regional Government's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party.

In this picture taken on July 15, 2021, an Afghan militia fighter keeps a watch at an outpost against Taliban insurgents at Charkint district in Balkh Province.

Taliban victory in Afghanistan could inspire terrorists, armed groups throughout Middle East

There are increasing reports of foreign jihadist fighters in Afghanistan.

A nurse stands by the CIRA-03 robot prototype built as part of a self-funded project to assist physicians in running tests on suspected COVID-19 coronavirus patients.

Middle East economic outlook hinges on vaccinations

Five countries to watch: Tunisia, Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Oman.

US President Joe Biden (R) hosts Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi for a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, July 26, 2021.

Iraq-US strategic dialogue divides anti-US groups in Iraq

The recent strategic dialogue talks between Iraq and the United States have divided anti-US groups in Iraq, as some welcome the results of the dialogue and others reject it and ask for full US withdrawal from Iraq.

A woman looks on at the waste dump of Diwaniyah where families live in the rubbish with no electricity or drinking water, on March 25, 2018.

Iraqi Kurdistan water crisis blamed on climate and Iran

Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government has asked citizens to ration water.

An Iraqi medic picks an oxygen bottle for a COVID-19 patient at a hospital in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk.

Iraq faces a new wave of COVID-19 cases amid great challenges

The Iraqi Ministry of Health worries that too many Iraqis are disregarding public health guidance and refusing to get vaccinated.

Funeral for Turkish soldier

Turkish soldier in Iraq killed fighting PKK

The deadly attack took place in the autonomous Kurdistan Region near the Turkish border, and followed the deaths of two Turkish soldiers in Syria over the weekend.

US President Joe Biden (R) hosts Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi for a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, July 26, 2021.

Iraq's military disputes militia claim about drone attack

The Imam Ali Division militia claimed two drones attacked one of its storage facilities near Najaf.

Iraqis attend a funeral for an Iraqi family killed in an explosion a day earlier in a popular market in the Shiite-majority Sadr City neighborhood, east of the capital, Baghdad, on July 20, 2021.

Militias call for revenge against Sunni town over suicide attacks in Baghdad

The suicide attack on the Shiite-dominated Sadr City district of Baghdad on July 19 that killed at least 35 people has led some pro-Iran militias to demand vengeance against Sunnis near Baghdad.

US President Joe Biden meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, July 26, 2021.

Biden announces end to US combat mission in Iraq

Following a White House meeting today between US President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the two side announced an agreement that the US combat mission in Iraq will end by Dec. 31, 2021.

Iraqi Aqeel Hassan, part owner of private electric generators, is pictured on July 17, 2021, at his business in Baghdad's Sadr City district.

Amid Iranian gas shortage, Iraq searches for alternatives

Iran's dilapidated gas infrastructure has limited its transfers to Iraq, adding to Iraq's own energy crisis.

Fuad Hussein and Antony Blinken

Iraq still needs US help to defeat Islamic State, foreign minister says

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein made the remarks ahead of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s visit to Washington on Monday.