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

Iran cover image

Iraq

June 19, 2026

Baghdad 6:55 am

35°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

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein holds a press conference at the Babylon Hotel in the capital Baghdad, on March 4, 2021, on the eve of the first papal visit to Iraq. - Pope Francis begins a historic 4-day trip to war-scarred Iraq on March 5, defying security concerns and the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Sabah ARAR / AFP) / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Sabah ARAR has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [March 4] instead of [February 4]. Please im

Pope heads for Iraq in historic first

The pope will land in Iraq tomorrow for a three-day pilgrimage.

A picture taken on January 13, 2020 during a press tour organised by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State group, shows US soldiers clearing rubble at Ain al-Asad military airbase in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. - Iran last week launched a wave of missiles at the sprawling Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and a base in Arbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, both hosting US and other foreign troops, in retaliation for the US killing top Iranian general Qasem

American dies of ‘cardiac episode’ after rocket attack on Iraq air base

Rocket strikes resume after Biden authorized retaliation on pro-Iran militia in Syria last week

Iraq begins administering COVID-19 vaccines

The vaccination process is underway throughout the country ahead of Pope Francis' visit.

Protesters are pictured in a square as smoke billows following clashes between Iraqi police forces and anti-government protesters in Nasiriyah in southern Iraq on January 10, 2021. - A policeman was killed today in Iraq, the army said, as security forces fired to disperse a third consecutive day of protests in the city of Nasiriyah, according to medics. (Photo by Asaad NIAZI / AFP) (Photo by ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images)

Nasiriyah tensions ease as pope heads to Iraq

Iraq's Nasiriyah has been the scene of violent protests recently, but calm has settled over the city with the prime minister's efforts to calm it.

Iraq passes law addressing women survivors of Yazidi genocide

The landmark bill formally recognizes the Yazidi genocide and the trauma of sexual violence, but the community still faces grave security concerns and missing men, women and children.

WATCH: Pentagon releases video of Iran ballistic missile attack on Iraq air base

More than a dozen ballistic missiles rained down on Ain al-Asad and Erbil air bases in Iraq last year after the United States killed Qasem Soleimani.

Prominent Islamic State leaders killed in Iraq

Iraqi security forces announced the killings of Islamic State leaders who had long evaded capture.

US President Joe Biden signs an executive order on securing critical supply chains, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, February 24, 2021. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden approves airstrike on Iran-backed militias in Syria following Iraq attacks

Officials suggested the late-night precision bombing was designed to minimize casualties while avoiding backlash from the Iraqi government.

CENTCOM chief warns Iran over strikes on Erbil, Saudi Arabia

Gen. Kenneth "'Frank" McKenzie warned Iran in the boldest statement yet from the Biden administration over the attacks.

Iraqi prime minister is first among Arab leaders to receive call from US president

US President Joe Biden made his first call in the Arab world to Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, expressing strong support for Iraq.

A man inspects the damage on February 16, 2021 following a rocket attack the previous night in Arbil, the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region. - The United Nations warned Iraq could spin out of control after a rocket attack on the Kurdish regional capital Arbil killed a foreign contractor and wounded several Iraqis and foreigners. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Kataib Hezbollah denies role in recent Iraq rocket attacks

The high-profile, Iran-backed militia denied responsibility for attacks on US targets in Iraq.

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 fall in Baghdad’s Green Zone, no injuries

Iraq's security media cell said the rockets were launched from al-Salaam neighborhood.