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

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Iraq

February 19, 2026

Baghdad 9:33 pm

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Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki delivers a speech during a campaign rally for the State of Law Coalition ahead of the country's parliamentary elections in Baghdad on Nov. 7, 2025.

Analysis

Can Maliki overcome Trump opposition to reclaim Iraq’s PM post?

US President Donald Trump’s opposition to the former prime minister and reports of potential retribution toward Iraq are receiving pushback in the country, which is already suffering from political paralysis.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

SDF commander in chief, Mazlum Kobane, meets with Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, on Feb. 5, 2026.

Exclusive

100 non-Syrian Kurds return to PKK’s Qandil stronghold under SDF-Damascus deal

The transfer of non-Syrian PKK fighters to Iraq’s Qandil Mountains follows a US-brokered SDF-Damascus deal aimed at easing tensions and preserving Kurdish forces under national army oversight.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki speaks during a press conference on May 11, 2011, at the green zone area in Baghdad, Iraq.

Iraq’s Maliki rejects Trump criticism, vows to stay in PM race

Maliki refused to withdraw from the race, despite mounting pressure from the US, and expressed a desire for good relations with Iraq’s neighbors and Washington.

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 13, 2025.

How US-India trade deal could impact Mideast energy, trade routes

The United States and India struck a trade agreement on Monday that eases months of tension between the two countries and could influence Gulf oil flows and economic integration.

Latest News

Iraq's Shiite bloc holds talks with Kurds as deadlock on president, PM persists

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani meets the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, in Erbil on Monday.

Iraqi militias claim volunteers readying to defend Iran from US: What to know

Men sign up to join the "martyrdom brigades" under the umbrella of Iraq's pro-Iran paramilitary group Hezbollah Brigades (Kataib Hezbollah), who called upon Iraqis to volunteer in fighting alongside Iran in the event of a full-scale war with the US and Israel, at a mosque in Baghdad on January 29, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

After Trump’s rebuke, can Maliki rebound in Iraq, or does Sudani become favorite?

(L to R) Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid; Qais al-Khazali, head of the "Asaib Ahl al-Haq"; one of the member factions of the Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) paramilitaries; Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani; and former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki attend an event commemorating the 21st anniversary of the group's creation at a hotel in Baghdad on May 3, 2024.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

‘Very bad choice’: Trump threatens to cut Iraq aid if Maliki returns as PM

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki leaves after casting his ballot at a polling station in Baghdad on Nov. 11, 2025 during Iraq's parliamentary elections.

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

U.S. soldiers inspect the site where an Iranian missile hit at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province, Iraq January 13, 2020. REUTERS/John Davison - RC23FE9EJI5L

First Purple Hearts issued to US soldiers wounded in Iran missile strike on bases in Iraq

The US military issues six Purple Hearts for service members who suffered brain injuries in January and plans to give out 23 more.

An Iraqi fighter with the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces) inspects the site of the Islamic State (IS) group attack, a day earlier, on a unit of the paramilitary force in Mukaishefah, about 180km (110 miles) north of the capital, on May 3, 2020. - IS group remnants in Iraq are exploiting a coronavirus lockdown, coalition troop withdrawals and simmering political disputes to ramp up deadly attacks, according to analysts and intelligence officials, the bloodiest so far being an ambush early on M

Islamic State carries out attacks across Iraq, including near Baghdad

The Islamic State hits Iraqi security forces across the country May 2 and 3, including ones relatively close to the capital.

Islamic State ramps up attacks in Iraq during Ramadan

A rash of seemingly coordinated attacks by the Islamic State have hit several areas across Iraq during the Muslim holy month of fasting, starting before dawn and resuming after sundown.

Iraq’s Kadhimi submits plan to parliament as deadline approaches

Iraq’s newest Prime Minister-designate, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, has submitted his government program to the parliament for approval.

Sunni volunteers, who have joined the Abbas Fighting Division, shout slogans after a field training in Kerbala, Iraq December 20, 2017. Picture taken December 20, 2017. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani - RC116223B030

Pro-Sistani 'popular mobilization units' break with pro-Iran militias in Iraq

A bold move by PMU groupings aligned with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is set to challenge the level of influence of pro-Iran militias in Iraq.

Iraqi intelligence building bombed in Kirkuk

A suicide bomber, reportedly an Islamic State member, detonated himself at an Iraqi intelligence building in the disputed northern city.

Refugees from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, walk past tents at Nowruz refugee camp in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, August 17, 2014. Proclaiming a caliphate straddling parts of Iraq and Syria, Islamic State militants have swept across northern Iraq, pushing back Kurdish regional forces and driving tens of thousands of Christians and members of the Yazidi religious minority from their homes. Picture taken August 17, 2014. REUTERS/Rodi Said (SYRIA - Tags: POLIT

Intel: US watchdog calls on State Department to add Syria to list of religious freedom violators

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo should designate Syria as one of the world’s worst religious freedom offenders and put Iraq, Turkey and Egypt on a special watch list, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended in its annual report.

A picture taken on October 2, 2019, shows the Khosrawi border crossing between Iraq and Iran, also known as the Munthriya border crossing, in the Diyala province of eastern Iraq, as Iranian pilgrims arrive on their way to the central Iraqi shrine city of Karbala ahead of the Arbaeen religious festival. (Photo by Younis AL-BAYATI / AFP) (Photo by YOUNIS AL-BAYATI/AFP via Getty Images)

Islamic State conducts attacks near Iraq’s Syrian and Iranian borders

A number of attacks in Iraq’s bordering province, especially Diyala along the Iranian border, have raised concern. Islamic State fighters have filmed themselves with weapons that appear to be of Iranian origin, while security gaps remain due to tension between the KRG and Baghdad.

Workers set up a natural gas pipeline during a dust storm at Iraq's border with Iran in Basra, southeast of Baghdad, April 12, 2016. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani - GF10000380312

Iraq receives another short waiver to US sanctions on Iranian gas

The United States granted Iraq 30 more days to continue importing Iranian gas in contrast with longer sanctions waivers in the past.

Russia doubles down on Iraq despite COVID-19

Moscow and Baghdad continue to plot a course for bilateral relations, though the process is being complicated by Iraq’s precarious political situation and the global coronavirus crisis.

Iraqi soldiers search for IS along Tigris River

Iraqi army soldiers look for IS fighters in Samarra, where IS has been active during the coronavirus lockdown in the country.

Defence lawyers Serkan Alkan (L) and Martin Heising (R) look on as the Iraqi defendant, identified only as Taha al-J., believed to have belonged to the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, hides his face while arriving into the courtroom for the start of his trial for genocide and murdering a young Yazidi girl, he held as a slave, on April 24, 2020 at the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Frankfurt am Main. - Defence lawyers Serkan Alkan (L) and Martin Heising (R) look on as the Iraqi defendant, identified only

Justice for genocide: Yazidis hopeful as Islamic State trial opens in Germany

An Iraqi man is on trial in a German court for human trafficking and genocide against the Yazidis.