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Iraq

October 4, 2026

Baghdad 11:30 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

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.

Members of the Iraqi-Kurdish Peshmerga forces attend a handover and US military and logistic assistance distribution ceremony to the Peshmerga Ministry of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the Arbil the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq on November 10, 2020. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

One reported dead in fight between Kurdish groups in Iraq

A peshmerga soldier in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq reportedly died during a fight with the PKK on Sunday amid tensions between the two groups as well as with Turkey.

International court finds UK war crimes in Iraq but will not open investigation

The International Criminal Court has closed its probe because it could not conclude that UK authorities were unwilling to genuinely carry out an investigation.

Dozens killed, injured in Iraq’s Kurdistan protests as some consider leaving

Protests in the southeastern part of the Kurdistan Region over unpaid public sector salaries amid an ongoing budget dispute with Baghdad have led to several deaths.

Death toll mounts as Iraqi Kurdish protests continue

The unrest in Iraq's northern Sulaimaniyah province has left at least nine people dead.

Supporters of Iraq's Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr demonstrate in Tahrir Square in Baghdad on November 27, 2020. - Tens of thousands of supporters of the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gathered in the Iraqi capital in a show of political power, as the legislative elections are scheduled for next June. (Photo by Ahmad AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqi government presses ahead with early elections next year

The Iraqi government is striving to make the legal and political preparations for elections in June 2021, amid multiple political and security challenges.

Iraq’s president urges end to violence in protest-hit Sulaimaniyah

Iraqi President Barham Salih weighed in on the increasingly violent protests that have gripped the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

TOPSHOT - A view shows the ravaged al-Idara al-Mahalia stadium, which was once used by Islamic State group fighters as a weapons depot, near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on October 22, 2020. - Jihadi fighters from the Islamic State (IS) group seized Mosul in 2014, later expanding its so-called 'caliphate' to over a third of Iraq and into neighbouring Syria. In 2017, Iraqi and coalition forces forced the hardened insurgents out in a grinding urban battle that left the ancient city in ruins. The bullet-ri

Egypt wins strong foothold in Iraq’s reconstruction

Millions of Egyptian workers may benefit from their government's involvement in Iraq’s massive reconstruction process.