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Iraq

October 4, 2026

Baghdad 6:53 pm

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A member of the Iraqi security forces flashes the victory sign during a military parade

Explainer

What Iraq’s US troop withdrawal means for security after Kirkuk killings

As Iraq assumes full responsibility for its security following the coalition’s withdrawal, a disputed counterterrorism operation in Kirkuk is raising questions about accountability, public trust and lingering security gaps.

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.

Latest News

Iraq announces Iran flights to resume: What to know

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.

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

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

General Electric signs deal with Iraq's Electricity Ministry

The US industrial giant's announcement came before Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi visited the White House.

Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (L) speaks during a press conference with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo at the State Department in Washington, DC on August 19, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: Iraq to ink oil deal with Chevron, foreign minister says

The Iraqi government will sign an agreement with American oil company Chevron, Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said during his visit to Washington on Wednesday.

An Iraqi man, wearing a protective mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stands at the entrance of a money exchange office in Sulaimaniyah city in the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq on August 4, 2020. - In Iraq's Kurdistan and holy Shiite sites, trading US dollars for rials from Iran was once big business with millions of pilgrims and for businessmen coming to visit. But the money exchange business has been hard hit by lockdown restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19. (Photo by Shwan MOHAMMED /

US backs Iraqi progress on budget deal with Kurdistan Region

The Trump administration says it supports Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi's progress so far in working out a budget agreement with the Kurdistan Region.

Islamist parties challenge Iraqi domestic violence draft law

The potential enactment of a domestic violence bill into law has engendered a major struggle between civil society activists and Shiite Islamist parties that believe the law will split families.

Iraqi Kurds take part in a mass demonstration in the city of Sulaymaniyah to demand payment of their salaries and an end to corruption, on September 27, 2016. / AFP / SHWAN MOHAMMED (Photo credit should read SHWAN MOHAMMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: Unpaid salaries fuel protests in Iraqi Kurdistan

Ongoing budget disputes with Baghdad have fueled salary delays and a lack of business bailouts in the Kurdistan Region as KRG debt swells to $27 billion.

What's next for Turkish-Iraqi ties after deadly drone strike?

The killing of Iraqi border guards in a Turkish drone strike undermines Baghdad’s traditional flexibility toward Ankara at a time when Turkey’s Arab adversaries are seeking to draw Iraq to their side.

Iraqis wearing protective masks leave after shopping at the Mall of Baghdad as it reopens after a long closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the Al-Harithiya area of the capital Baghdad, on July 19, 2020. (Photo by SABAH ARAR / AFP) (Photo by SABAH ARAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq again breaks daily COVID-19 record

The outbreak is worst in Baghdad, Erbil and Basra.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY NICOLAS CHEVIRON Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) rebels man a security checkpoint on October 28, 2009 near a PKK base in the Qandil mountains, near Rania province, in northern Iraq. From their bases in northern Iraq, the Kurdish guerilla movement is defying recent overtures of the Turkish government to reconcile with Turkey's 15 million Kurds, saying it is ready to wage a 50-year war against Ankara. AFP PHOTO / MUSTAFA OZER (Photo credit should read MUSTAFA OZER/AFP

Turkey says it will continue attacks on PKK after Iraqi border guards killed

A Turkish drone strike targeting the Kurdistan Workers Party left two Iraqi border guards and their driver dead on Tuesday.

Iraqi detainees leave the prison after being freed on February 28, 2013 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. 160 prisoners were freed today and Iraq has freed 4,000 prisoners since the beginning of 2013, Deputy Prime Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said Thursday, in an apparent bid to placate protesters in Sunni areas of the country. AFP/ PHOTO/ ALI AL-SAADI (Photo credit should read ALI AL-SAADI/AFP via Getty Images)

In dramatic move, Iraqi PM visits prisons in response to protester appeals

The Iraqi government is under pressure to reveal the fate of persons unaccounted for and those detained in secret prisons.

The Bayraktar TB2 drone is pictured flying on December 16, 2019 at Gecitkale Airport in Famagusta in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). - The Turkish military drone was delivered to northern Cyprus today amid growing tensions over Turkey's deal with Libya that extended its claims to the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean. The Bayraktar TB2 drone landed in Gecitkale Airport in Famagusta around 0700 GMT, an AFP correspondent said, after the breakaway northern Cyprus government approve

Iraq tells Turkey defense minister to stay away after its officers killed in drone strike

Iraq cancelled a planned Baghdad visit by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and summoned the Turkish ambassador after a a Turkish drone attack killed two senior Iraqi officials.

Iraq's Kurdistan Region recording highest-ever daily COVID-19 cases

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has been hard hit by both the coronavirus and the economic impact of the lockdowns, as a top politician announces he has contracted the virus.

What are vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris' views on the Middle East?

Joe Biden's running mate has views on Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Syria that fall in line with the Democratic party establishment.