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Iraq

October 4, 2026

Baghdad 3:09 am

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Members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) paramilitary forces stand guard during an election rally for the "Asaib Ahl al-Haq" movement in the capital Baghdad, on October 7, 2021.

Analysis

After US exit, Iran gains space in Iraq and a harder balancing act

For Iran, the easier part may have been getting Washington out, but it may now have to struggle turning the absence into durable influence and reviving its allied militias without provoking instability.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

US President Donald Trump meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, on July 8, 2026.

Trump’s integration policies build on Gulf, Turkey ties and Syria success

Iran’s influence, and the potential for renewed conflict, complicate progress in Iraq.

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 Jan. 12, 2017.

Iraq announces Iran flights to resume: What to know

Iraqis protested the latest move aimed at pressuring Iran and an Iran-backed militia vowed a response if the flights do not come back.

Latest News

Analysis

Can Turkey’s Bashiqa withdrawal pave the way for deeper Iraq ties?

Turkish soldiers conduct military exercises near the Habur crossing gate between Turkey and Iraq on Sept. 27, 2017 in the Silopi district, southeast Turkey.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

How militias in Anbar could complicate Iraq’s energy ambitions

Iraqi soldiers from the new 'desert battalion' special forces stand next to military vehicles as the take part in a graduation ceremony, after months of training by the French military, at the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar west of Baghdad on February 29, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Explainer

Turkey agrees to hand over contentious Bashiqa base to Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York City, Sept. 23, 2026.

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

This picture taken during a press tour organized by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State shows a bulldozer clearing debris from Ain al-Asad military air base in the western province of Anbar, Iraq, Jan. 13, 2020.

US Embassy, Ain al-Asad base targeted in Iraq as militias up tension

Following the US strike on militias' bases last week, the US Embassy and Ain al-Asad base were targeted by a drone and rockets.

The sun sets behind electrical grids in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in the Dhi Qar province, on Jan. 3, 2021.

Islamic State suspected of sabotaging Iraqi electrical towers

Power transmission towers have recently been targeted in Iraq, which already is suffering from major electricity shortages.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaks to AFP about the strikes on two major Saudi oil facilities that were claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels but which both Washington and Riyadh have blamed on Tehran, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 16, 2019.

Iraq to enhance cooperation with NATO

As Iraq aims to rebuild its security institutions, the cooperation with NATO increases.

Families leave al-Hol camp

Iraq seeks to rehabilitate Islamic State families

Baghdad’s program to allow families of Islamic State adherents to return from a Syrian camp and to reintegrate them back into Iraqi society stirs controversy.

A man stands by fans spraying air mixed with water vapor deployed by donors to cool down pedestrians along a street in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, on June 30, 2021, amidst a severe heatwave.

Intel: Iraq’s power crisis prompts resignation of electricity minister

Scorching summer heat, coordinated attacks on power transmission towers and Tehran cutting its power supply to Baghdad have contributed to severe power shortages across the country.

SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images

Iraqi Kurdistan government denies letting US bomb Iran-backed militia

An official from an Iran-backed militia in Iraq accused the Kurdistan Regional Government of allowing the United States to launch bombing runs from Erbil.

SABAH ARAR/AFP via Getty Images

Iraq replaces state media head

An Iraqi court has reinstated the former president of the Iraqi Media Network, annulling the appointment of Nabil Jasem.

Iraqi mourners attend the funeral of a fighter of the Hashid Shaabi paramilitary alliance following US airstrikes on the Syrian-Iraqi border, on June 28, 2021, in the northern Ninevah province.

Iraq-Syria border strikes on pro-Iran ‘militias’ spark retaliation

Airstrikes on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian border near Qaim conducted by the United States were followed by retaliatory strikes by Iran-linked groups against a Kurdish-led SDF base housing coalition forces in eastern Syria.

(L-R) King Abdullah II of Jordan, Iraqi President Barham Salih and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attend a meeting at the Republican Palace on the sidelines of the Iraqi-Egyptian-Jordanian tripartite summit, Baghdad, Iraq, June 27, 2021.

Iraq hosts historic summit with Jordanian, Egyptian leaders

The visit by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to Baghdad is the first by an Egyptian head of state since 1990.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi speaks to the media during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Chancellery, Berlin, Germany, Oct. 20, 2020.

Iraqi prime minister attends PMU parade

The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units held a military parade June 26 that was attended by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi as chief commander of the armed forces.

PMU in Hawija 2017

Iraqi PMU plan military parade as show of force

Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units are organizing a military parade on the seventh anniversary of their establishment as a show of strength, but it may also reveal their divisions.

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.