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

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Iraq

January 13, 2026

Baghdad 11:00 am

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Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 9, 2026.

From Iraq to Yemen, how Iran proxies are responding to protests

Iraqi militias and the Houthis are growing more vocal in their defense of Iran amid the protests sweeping the country, while Hezbollah and Palestinian groups are remaining relatively quiet.

Safin HAMID / AFP via Getty Images

Sharaa tells Iraq's Barzani Kurds integral to Syria amid fears of Aleppo spillover

More than 140,000 people have been displaced by fighting between Syrian government and Kurdish forces in Aleppo and the situation has captured the attention of Kurdistan Region and federal government leaders in neighboring Iraq.

The Iranian-flagged oil tanker Fortune is docked at the El Palito refinery after its arrival to Puerto Cabello in the northern state of Carabobo, Venezuela, on May 25, 2020.

Analysis

Venezuelan crisis unlikely to impact MENA crude exporters in short term

Oil prices inched up on Monday as global oversupply concerns outweighed output disruption fears over the upheaval in Venezuela.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Latest News

Analysis

After Iraq’s election, what are US priorities for next government?

Armoured vehicles of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Forces are deployed outside the US embassy building in Baghdad's Green Zone on June 12, 2025, after an announcement by a US official the previous day that staff levels at the diplomatic mission in Iraq were being reduced over security concerns. Despite reporting progress in earlier rounds of talks between Iran and the United States, tensions have reached a fever pitch this week as Washington moved non-essential staff from bases in the region following US medi

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Syria seizes anti-aircraft missiles near Iraqi border: What to know

Syria's security directorate in al-Bukamal seized SAM-7 missiles being prepared for smuggling into Iraq, on Dec. 22, 2025.

Analysis

What Turkey wants from Iraq to renew pipeline deal

A worker turns a valve at the Shirawa oil field, where oil was first pumped in Iraq in 1927, outside the northern city of Kirkuk, Jan. 19, 2004.

David O'Byrne

By David O'Byrne

Barham Salih slated to become first Kurd and Iraqi to lead UNHCR

Iraqi President Barham Salih meets with UK Prime Minister, Theresa May (unseen), on June 25, 2019, in London, England.

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

Andrew Parasiliti

President and Chief Content Officer

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security

Suadad al-Salhy

In Baghdad, reporting on politics and security

Lyse Mauvais

In Amman, reporting on humanitarian crises

Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani (R) talks to then-US Vice President Joe Biden during a meeting in Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region in Northern Iraq, on April 28, 2016, upon the latter's arrival on a surprise visit.

'No pretext to delay' Iraqi Kurdistan parliament elections, says Masoud Barzani

Iraqi Kurdish leader, in exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, cites "positive atmosphere" of budget talks, discusses prospects for oil law, relations with the United States, Iran, China and issues affecting the Kurdish people in Iraq and the region.

A man walks inside a liquor shop in Baghdad on February 23, 2023. (Photo by MURTAJA LATEEF/AFP via Getty Images)

'Iraq is not an Islamic country': Minorities protest Baghdad's alcohol ban as unconstitutional

The Iraqi government's renewed effort to prohibit alcohol is not only worrisome for Christian and Yazidi minorities, but also raises constitutionality questions.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Freedom House

MidEast freedom rankings: Syria worst, Tunisia in decline, says Freedom House

Syria remains to be the least and Israel the best performing country when it comes civil and political freedoms while the biggest one-year decline has been observed in Tunisia.

Lloyd Austin in Baghdad

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin talks troop presence in surprise Iraq visit

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is playing a delicate balancing act with pro-Iran factions as Washington keeps a low profile for its military advisers in Iraq in order to subdue the Islamic State.

Shiite Muslim pilgrims gather to pray at the shrine of the 8th-century Imam Musa al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya district, north of Baghdad, on February 17, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi TV series about Islamic history triggers Iraq’s sectarian divide

The Saudi-based MBC media group’s announcement that it would broadcast a TV series about a controversial figure in Islamic history, Mu'awiya bin Abi Sufyan, has faced strong backlash from Shiites in Iraq and the region.

This picture shows traffic in Baghdad's Tahrir Square with the iconic Freedom Monument, a 50-metre (165-foot) long bas relief that honours the 1950 revolution which overthrew Iraq's monarchy, on November 7, 2022.(Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq rolls out new plan to reduce chronic Baghdad traffic

Successive Iraqi governments have tried but failed to address the problem of traffic in the capital. Sudani's plan involves building new bridges and overpasses.

Artist Tara Abdulla in her studio in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Culture

Artistic heart of Iraq's Kurdistan thrives, but wants more public engagement

Sulaimaniyah, often called the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s “culture capital,” has become something of a haven for artists, though obstacles remain for the vibrant and self-sustaining artistic center they envision.

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images

In shift away from US dollar, Iraq to allow trade with China in yuan

Some countries in the region are increasingly looking away from the dollar.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a screen set at Red Square as he addresses a rally and a concert marking the annexation of four regions of Ukraine Russian troops occupy - Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, in central Moscow on September 30, 2022. (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Al-Monitor/Premise poll: Russia's role seen as negative in Turkey, Yemen, Iraq

The Russian invasion of Ukraine hurt the region economically, as supply chain disruptions and food shortages topped respondents concerns in Turkey, Egypt, Yemen and Iraq

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani at the Elysee Presidential Palace, Paris, France, Jan. 26, 2023.

In Iraq, Macron seeks bigger sphere of influence for France

In less than a month, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted both Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani and Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani as Paris works to revive its influence in the region and counter China and Iran.

Iraqi women's rights activists lift placards during a rally near the Supreme Judicial Council in Baghdad on Feb. 5.

Honor killings in Iraq rekindle efforts to criminalize domestic violence

There is once again outrage and calls for legal reforms in Iraq to protect women from being murdered at the hands of family members.

Iraq elections

Iraqi parliament's attempt to amend electoral law met with anger

The controversial amendment, which will benefit Iraq's larger political parties at the expense of independent ones, is causing political division in the country between the ruling coalition and Sadrists, among others.