Iraq - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Iran cover image

Iraq

June 19, 2026

Baghdad 12:17 am

36°C

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

Workers prepare a site for constructing small residential units, 30 kilometers south of Baghdad, on June 1, 2011.

Iraqi government takes on housing crisis

The Iraqi government is mulling over several housing projects to solve the mounting housing crisis.

A picture taken during the visit of Iraqi prime minister to the southern city of Basra shows the Safwan border crossing with Kuwait, July 15, 2020.

Iraq automates its customs service to reduce corruption at border crossings

The Iraqi government has taken several new initiatives to fight corruption, from automating border crossings, arresting corrupt figures and imposing restrictions on the economic interests of militias and political parties.

A woman holds a poster of newly elected President Ebrahim Raisi, with text in Persian reading "Government of the people, strong Iran," as supporters celebrate his victory in Imam Hussein Square, Tehran, Iran, June 19, 2021.

Iran's Iraq policy unlikely to change under Raisi

Despite his hardline credentials, Iran's foreign policy is likely to remain unified under the new president.

US soldiers patrol at the Egyptian Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, July 8, 2005.

US announces reward in targeting Iraqi militias

Iraqi armed group threatens retaliation against "specific targets."

As oil fires burn in the distance, a man covers his face near the entrance to the besieged city of Basra on March 29, 2003, in Iraq.

Rise in Iraqi cancer cases may be linked to wars, environment

The causes of the spike may be linked to Iraq's wars or environmental pollution, but the evidence is sketchy.

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters arrive in the northern Iraqi city of Dahuk on May 14, 2013.

KRG puts PKK on notice for killing of peshmerga forces

The Biden administration slams PKK attack on Iraqi Kurdish allies as 'brutal.'

Wasni protest

Iraqi judiciary releases PMU leader, citing lack of evidence

The commander of an Iraqi Popular Mobilization Unit accused of involvement in murder was released June 9 after the court said it failed to find sufficient evidence.

Green Zone convoy

Another Iraqi intelligence officer killed in Baghdad

The most recent killing is likely meant to undercut Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi's efforts to curb militias outside the control of the state.

A picture taken on Jan. 13, 2020, during a press tour organized by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State, shows a US soldier walking past a drone at the Ain al-Asad air base in the western Iraqi province of Anbar.

US air defenses shoot down drones near Iraq air base

Drones were intercepted and brought down near the air base that hosts US forces.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech after a signing ceremony with Libyan Government of National Unity Prime Minister at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on April 12, 2021.

Erdogan threatens to strike refugee camp inside Iraq

The rhetoric against Makhmour, a settlement where residents are overwhelmingly sympathetic to the Kurdistan Workers Party, could be part of a strategy to divert attention away from economic problems at home.

n Iraqi sits across graffiti reading in Arabic "Where's my killer?" and depicting renowned Iraqi anti-government activist Ihab al-Wazni (Ehab al-Ouazni), who was shot dead in an ambush earlier this month, in the shrine city of Karbala on May 23, 2021. A wave of deadly attacks on pro-democracy activists and journalists in Iraq has sparked mounting calls to boycott October parliamentary elections, as perpetrators go unpunished. Killings, attempted murder and abductions have targeted more than 70 activists sin

Iraqi activists worry about election security

Some parties that grew out of the October protests have withdrawn candidates from the upcoming parliamentary elections over security concerns.

The model of an airplane of Iraqi Kurdish carrier "Zagrosjet" decorates the center of a roundabout near Erbil's International airport in the capital of Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdish region on April 15, 2021. An explosives-packed drone slammed into the Erbil airport late on April 14 in the first reported use of such a weapon against a base used by US-led coalition troops in the country, according to officials. It comes after around 20 bomb and rocket attacks blamed on pro-Iran Shiite armed groups agains

Iraqi armed factions using drones against US-led coalition

Iraqi security and coalition forces are increasingly concerned about the use of drones by armed factions against military bases and airports.