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Iraq

August 18, 2026

Baghdad 2:32 am

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Smoke rises after explosions were heard and air defences activated near the airport in Erbil, on July 24, 2026.

Explainer

Why Iran targeted Barzani family stronghold in Iraqi Kurdistan

Iran’s Kurdish opposition groups have turned Iraqi Kurdistan into a frontline in the war.

A man inspects the damage at the site of a strike in Bartalla, in the northern Iraq's Nineveh province, after US-Saudi attacks on militias, July 29, 2026.

Iraq intel and security officials visit Saudi Arabia after drone attacks

Iraqi authorities are cracking down on drone attacks after US and Saudi airstrikes targeted Iran-backed militias in the country.

The commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Esmail Qaani, speaks during a commemoration ceremony marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of Guards general Qasem Soleimani (on screen) in the capital Tehran on Jan. 3, 2024.

Analysis

What Qaani's Baghdad visit reveals about Iran's post-war dilemma

The Quds Force commander's Baghdad visit is occurring as Iran faced difficult choices in Iraq where the government is moving to bring powerful armed groups under state control after the recent war.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Latest News

IRGC chief Qaani reportedly in Iraq ahead of militia deadline

Qaani

Analysis

How Turkey is deepening energy and economic ties with Iraq as Iran weakens

a worker inspects an oil field in Iraq

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Iraqi Kurdish president’s meeting with Syria’s Sharaa signals shift in SDF dynamics

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani in Damascus, Aug. 3, 2026. IKRPresident/X

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

A picture taken during a press tour organized by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State shows US soldiers clearing rubble at Ain al-Asad military air base, Anbar province, Iraq, Jan. 13, 2020.

Iraqi Sunnis look to KRG for safety as militias concerns fester

As attacks believed to be by Iran-linked armed groups continue amid questions over how long US forces will retain a presence in Iraq, Sunni Arabs are again seeking safety in the Kurdistan Region of the country.

Iraq electricity

Iraq's Kadhimi had full agenda for meetings in Iran

In his second trip to Tehran, Mustafa al-Kadhimi discussed the two nations' economic relationship, energy sales and reducing regional tension.

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.