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Iraq

February 18, 2026

Baghdad 1:13 am

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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

An Iraqi woman walks past 24 September 2007, at a burnt car on the site where Blackwater guards who were escorting US embassy officials opened fire in the western Baghdad neighbourhood of Yarmukh, a shootout which left, 16 September 2007, nine civilians and a policeman dead. Iraq said today that it will await the outcome of an investigation into the killing of 10 people during the shootout before taking any action against the company. AFP PHOTO/ALI YUSSEF (Photo credit should read ALI YUSSEF/AFP via Getty I

Trump pardons Blackwater contractors convicted of Iraq massacre

The incident in Baghdad's Nisoor Square deeply strained US-Iraqi ties and marred the reputation of the paramilitary company.

Iraq closes land borders, restaurants with new anti-virus measures

The federal Iraqi government is also barring travelers from the UK, Iran and several other countries.

Syrian-Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and members of the Rojava Forces Defence Units walk near the town of Faysh Khabur, which lies in Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region near the three-way border crossing between Iraq-Syria-Turkey on March 29, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

KRG asks US forces to deploy along Kurdish-controlled part of Iraqi-Syrian border

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani’s deputy chief of staff outlined why the Kurdish region's government wants US forces stationed in and around the Fish Khabur border crossing.

A general view shows the US embassy across the Tigris river in Iraq's capital Baghdad on January 3, 2020. - The US embassy in Baghdad urged American citizens in Iraq to "depart immediately", for fear of fallout from a US strike that killed top Iranian and Iraqi commanders. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP) / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [2020] instead of [2019]. Please immediately remove the erron

Iraqi government arrests suspects after rockets aimed at US Embassy

As the one-year anniversary of the killing of Iranian general Qasem Solaimani approaches, several rockets have again been shot at the US Embassy in Baghdad; suspects have been arrested.

A member of the Iraqi security forces inspects the damage outside the Zawraa park in the capital Baghdad on November 18, 2020, after volley of rockets slammed into the Iraqi capital breaking a month-long truce on attacks against the US embassy. - According to the Iraqi military, four of the rockets landed in the high-security Green Zone, where the US embassy and other foreign missions are based. Another three rockets also hit other parts of Baghdad, killing one girl and wounding five civilians. All seven r

Rockets target US Embassy in Baghdad ahead of anniversary of Soleimani killing

At least one Iraqi civilian was injured in the strike, the US State Department said.

Iraqi banks undertake overdue reforms

Iraqi banks have undertaken reforms, coinciding with the Iraqi government's measures to reform the economy.

Iraq, KRG, Turkey find common ground in response to PKK

Kurdish group increasingly isolated; meanwhile, Syrian Kurds boxed in by Turkey, Russia and Assad.

NYT retracts main story in hit 'Caliphate' podcast, citing failures

New York Times reporter Rukmini Callimachi is being taken off the terrorism beat after an inquiry found missteps in verifying claims that the podcast's main subject had been an IS fighter.

DOHUK, IRAQ - OCTOBER 17: Syrian refugees children who fled the Turkish incursion in Northern Syria receive medicine for polio and measles as more than 200 arrive at the facility on October 17, 2019 in Dohuk, Iraq. More than 1000 refugees have arrived in Northern Iraq since the beginning of the conflict, with many saying they paid to be smuggled through the Syrian border. (Photo by Byron Smith/Getty Images)

Iraq vaccinates 2 million children against polio

The Iraqi health authorities affirmed the country is polio-free and mass vaccinations aim to prevent the spread of the disease.

A handout picture taken and released on December 17 , 2020 by the Turkish Presidential Press service shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) welcomes Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (L) at the Presidential Complex with an official ceremony in Ankara. (Photo by Murat CETINMUHURDAR / TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP) / XGTY / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/ MURAT CETINMUHURDAR" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS -

Iraq, Turkey agree to cooperate on counterterrorism, trade

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi committed to enhanced cooperation on terrorism, trade and energy, although Turkey’s ongoing military operations in Iraqi Kurdistan may remain a source of contention between the two neighbors.

Muqtada al-Sadr shakes up Iraqi politics by calling for new Shite bloc

Muqtada al-Sadr’s calls to restore the "Shiite Home" were viewed as an attempt to revive the electoral Shiite alliance that cracked during recent legislative elections.

Armed groups target liquor shops in Iraq

Shops selling alcoholic beverages in Baghdad are constantly targeted. Some Iraqis see this as part of the war on their personal freedoms.