Iraqi elections

Iraqis stand outside parliament building, or Council of Representatives, in the Green Zone, Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 27, 2020.

Analysis

Iraq still without parliament speaker five months after Halbusi’s ouster

Previous parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi was removed from office in November, and parliament has yet to agree on a successor amid political controversies, including allegations related to former ruler Saddam Hussein.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

From PKK to corridor project: Ambitious agenda awaits Turkey’s Erdogan in Iraq

Security cooperation and transport corridor plans are expected to top the agenda of the Turkish president’s visit to Iraq in April, the first of its kind since 2011.

A military marching band plays outside during the first provincial council elections in a decade, at a polling station in the central city of Najaf, on December 18, 2023. The vote comes at a time of widespread disillusionment among the country's 43 million inhabitants, with endemic corruption eating away at the oil-rich nation. (Photo by Qassem al-KAABI / AFP) (Photo by QASSEM AL-KAABI/AFP via Getty Images)

2023 in review: Iraq's pro-Iran factions make gains, but so do Sunni groups

December's provincial elections across Iraq saw big gains for the ruling Coordination Framework and for the Sunni minority and Muhammad al-Halbousi list.

Iraq drought

How are climate change, water scarcity weighing on Iraq’s agriculture?

The Norwegian Refugee Council said farmers are being hurt economically by climate change, and suggested better irrigation techniques and water monitoring technology to improve the sector.

Latest News

Resignations at Iraq's parliament after supreme court ends Halbusi’s term

Iraqi Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi addresses France's President Emmanuel Macron (unseen) during a meeting at the parliament in the capital Baghdad, on August 28, 2021. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer: Why Iraq's Kirkuk has reached brink of conflict

Kirkuk

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Iraqi Kurds protest unpaid salaries from Baghdad

People in Dohuk city lift the regional flag during a rally over unpaid salaries in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq

Agence France-Presse

US welcomes conviction of Iranian, 4 Iraqis for killing American citizen

Iraqis drive past electoral billboards and placards of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Karrada district, Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 19, 2021.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

Understanding Iraq's Coordination Framework

The Coordination Framework is an umbrella bloc of Iraqi Shiite parties united mostly by their opposition to the Sadrist movement.

Supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gather outside the parliament building on the seventh day of protests against the nomination of a rival Shiite faction for the position of prime minister, Green Zone, Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 5, 2022.

What Iraq's rival Shiite forces want

The Shiite political parties are split into two rival camps, the Sadrists and the Coordination Framework, which is far less than unified.

Supporters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party celebrate with the KDP party flags during Iraq's parliamentary election in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, Oct. 10, 2021.

Kurdish leaders meet as Iraqi political deadlock continues

Iraq’s two major Kurdish parties have been trying to reach a compromise between the two, but to no avail.

Iraqi-Kurdistan

Supporters of Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Iraqi rival parties can't agree on path to new elections

Although Iraq's two rival Shiite groups, the Sadrists and the Coordination Framework, both agreed on early elections, they can't agree on the details.

Supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gather outside the Iraqi parliament in the Green Zone.

Muqtada al-Sadr uses street pressure to set political conditions for his rivals

Influential Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr vowed that new elections would be held as his followers flocked to a mass prayer in the occupied parts of Baghdad’s Green Zone after 10 months of political deadlock.

Iraq Sadr

Iraqi government initiates dialogue to end national crisis

Iraqi and international leaders are responding positively to the prime minister's call fior national dialogue among the various political parties.

Supporters of Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, protesting against a rival bloc's nomination for prime minister, gather inside the parliament building a day after storming it, Green Zone, Baghdad, Iraq, July 31, 2022.

Rival Shiite forces flex muscles in two protests in Baghdad

Speaker of the Iraqi parliament Mohammed al-Halbusi suspended parliament in response to Sadrist protesters who have occupied the Green Zone, closing down for now the prospects of a government formation.

Exterior of Iraq's Council of Representatives, the country's unicameral legislature, in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

Iraqi Sadrist protesters storm parliament

Sadrist protesters stormed parliament today, rejecting the formation of the government under the premiership of Muhammad Shia Sudani, who was nominated recently by a rival Shia colaition.

Maliki

Following tape leak, Sadr demands Maliki quit Iraqi politics

The escalating conflict between Muqtada al-Sadr and Nouri al-Maliki has raised further barriers to the formation of a new government.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi (C) joins mourners as they accompany the casket of the late Iraqi poet Muzaffar al-Nawab through the streets during his funeral procession, Baghdad, Iraq, May 21, 2022.

Militias target again Iraq’s intelligence service

Since Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi took office in mid-2020, extremist Shiite militias have been trying to undermine the National Intelligence Service, which he has been heading since 2016.

Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr delivers a speech in the central Iraqi city of Najaf on June 3, 2022.

Sadr withdrawal from Iraqi parliament challenges Shiite rivals

Populist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr withdrew his party members from Iraq's Council of Representatives, introducing a new level of uncertainty into Iraqi politics.

Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr delivers a speech in the central Iraqi city of Najaf on June 3, 2022.

Muqtada al-Sadr threatens to withdraw from parliament

After failing to form a national majority government, Iraqi populist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr asked his party members in parliament to prepare to resign.