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Iraq

June 15, 2026

Baghdad 11:16 pm

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Tom Barrack

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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

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Turkey to navigate enduring Iranian influence in Iraq following elections

Ankara will have to navigate Iran-aligned factions’ influence in Iraq while safeguarding strategic ties and ongoing cooperation with Baghdad.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

SAFIN HAMID/AFP via Getty Images

Sudani ahead in early Iraq vote count, path to power uncertain

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani is not guaranteed to stay on even if his list wins.

People walk past electoral campaign posters ahead of Iraq's parliamentary elections in central Baghdad on Nov. 6, 2025.

Analysis

Will Iraq’s election results reshape Iran’s role in Baghdad?

Tehran's sway over Baghdad is facing new challenges, with fatigued allies, US pressure and postwar regional shifts redefining Iran's influence in its most strategic neighbor.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Iraqi voters wait to cast their ballots at the Al-Ghufran school, turned into a polling station in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Nov. 11, 2025 during Iraq's parliamentary elections.

Iraq’s election turnout rises to 55%, defying expectations: What to know

Voter participation had previously declined in every other Iraqi election since 2005.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Iraq's prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, during the signing ceremony of memorandums of understanding between Iraq and Turkey, in Ankara on May 8, 2025.

Analysis

Turkey eyes continuity in Iraq as elections test Sudani’s pro-Ankara momentum

Ankara’s newfound clout in Baghdad, built on water deals and quiet security coordination, will face its first big test at the ballot box.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Iraqis walk past electoral billboards, including one bearing a portrait of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (C), in central Baghdad on Oct. 19, 2025, ahead of Iraq's parliamentary elections on Nov. 11.

Iraq elections: What to know as Sudani seeks second term

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is seen as the front-runner ahead of next week’s election, though the country may face another lengthy process of forming a government.

Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr gives a speech in Iraq's central holy shrine city of Najaf on Aug. 30, 2022.

Iraq elections: Sadr renews calls for boycott one week out from vote

Iraq’s next election has exposed considerable divides among Shiite politicians as Muqtada al-Sadr sits out and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani splits from the Coordination Framework.

sign

Turkey, Iraq sign oil-for-water deal: What to know

The landmark deal between Ankara and Baghdad sets out a finance mechanism to direct Iraqi oil proceeds into Turkish-built water infrastructure.

A woman walks past electoral billboards in central Baghdad on Oct. 19, 2025, ahead of parliamentary elections in Iraq on Nov. 11.

Iraq hit by wave of political violence weeks ahead of national election

Authorities work to step up security ahead of the upcoming vote, which could again be marked by low turnout amid widespread frustration with the political process.

Iraqi national security adviser Qasim al-Araji meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in Tehran, on Oct. 20, 2025.

Iraq's security chief visits Iran, steps up border and railway cooperation: What to know

Iraqi national security adviser Qasim al-Araji’s trip to Iran focused on efforts to deal with Kurdish groups on the border and a much-delayed railway linkage between the two countries.

Mark Savaya

Who is Mark Savaya, Chaldean-American businessman named Trump’s Iraq envoy?

Mark Savaya supported Trump in the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections and was credited by the president with helping to secure votes in the battleground state of Michigan.

US army soldiers, part of the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group, walk around at the K1 Air Base northwest of Kirkuk in northern Iraq before a planned US pullout on March 29, 2020.

Iraq to keep some US military advisers despite troop pivot to Kurdistan region

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said some 300 US military advisers would remain at a key base in the country's Anbar province to keep eyes-on ISIS activities in the Anbar desert and prevent the jihadist group's resurgence in the Euphrates River valley.