Iraq news

Syrian military raises alert level amid movements near Iraqi border

It also remained unclear whether the military movements had affected border crossings or civilian and commercial traffic between the two countries.  

|ByRIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE
Cars and coaches line up at al-Tanf crossing on the border between Iraq and Syria, some 300 km southeast of Damascus March 20, 2003. Border traffic remained normal after the start of a U.S.-led attack on Iraq at dawn on Thursday, despite fears that there would be an influx of refugees.
Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi speaks during a parliamentary session to vote in a new government headed by Ali al-Zaidi as prime minister, at the parliament headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, May 14, 2026.

Iraq forced to balance US, Iran relations after separate meetings with Trump, Iranian ambassador

Over the last decade, Iraq has been weakened from within because of Iranian-backed militias. Some of the militias have historical ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Iranian Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Freedom Party, known as PAK take part in a training session at a base on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq February 12, 2026.

Iran targets Kurdistan in regional escalation, spiking gas prices and tensions - analysis

Iran’s attacks on the Kurdistan Region come as the Iraqi prime minister has wrapped up his visit to the US.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi speaks during a parliamentary session to vote in a new government headed by Ali al-Zaidi as prime minister, at the parliament headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, May 14, 2026.

Iraq's PM arrives in Washington as US presses Baghdad on Iran-backed militias - analysis

Iraq is already a kind of frontline between the US and Iran. After the US and Israel began strikes on Iran on February 28, the Iranians operationalized militias in Iraq.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN

Turkish FM in Kurdistan region of Iraq after Baghdad visit

Authorities in Erbil are approaching the topic in a sensitive manner as they don’t want airstrikes throughout their region but they want warm ties with Ankara.   

AUGUST 24, 2023BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
View of a damaged building in the aftermath of missile attacks in Erbil, Iraq March 13, 2022

Six years after ISIS, what’s next for Iraq’s Mosul - analysis

ISIS committed several genocides in Mosul, it expelled Christians, kidnapped and enslaved members of the Yazidi minority and targeted ancient ruins to erase the cultural history of Iraq. 

JULY 19, 2023BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
A general view of the Old City of Mosul, Iraq, June 9, 2022.

Syria-Iraq ties continue to thaw with FM Baghdad visit - analysis

Syria says it wants to work with Iraq to fight against “terror” as well as the drug trade.

JUNE 5, 2023BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad speaks during a joint press conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (not pictured), in Baghdad, Iraq June 4, 2023.

Iraq calls on Turkey to apologize for attack on Sulaymaniyah airport

A US official confirmed there was a strike on a convoy in the area and US military personnel were in it, but there were no casualties.

APRIL 8, 2023ByREUTERS
Iraqi and Turkish soldiers wave flags at the Habur Border Gate between Turkey and Iraq

Up to 1m. people 'disappeared' in Iraq in last half century - UN

Disappearances continued after the US-led invasion in 2003, which saw the capture of at least 200,000 Iraqis, nearly half of whom were held in prisons run by the US or Britain.

APRIL 4, 2023ByREUTERS
Smoke billows from a presidential palace compound in Baghdad during airstrikes, Iraq, March 21, 2003. Large explosions shook Baghdad during a night of blistering air strikes, as US and British ground forces advancing across southern Iraq battled for hours for control of a strategic airfield.

Iraqi parliament approves unpopular election law amendments

Legislators rejecting amendments to the law tried to block the start of the session by shouting and chanting close to the speaker podium.

MARCH 27, 2023ByREUTERS
Abdul Latif Rashid takes his oath of office in front of Iraqi lawmakers in Baghdad, Iraq, October 13, 2022.

Observers question ability of Iraq’s Prime Minister to fight corruption

TML source confirms new steps Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani will take to fight rampant corruption in Iraq, under pressure from the United States

MARCH 27, 2023ByHUDHAIFA EBRAHIM/THE MEDIA LINE
A bank note from Iraq with a picture of Saddam Hussein.

Twenty years later, US Senate may finally end authorization for war on Iraq

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 13-8 to approve a bill to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force

MARCH 8, 2023ByREUTERS
US Marine Corps (USMC) Marines assigned to C/Company, 1ST Battalion, 5th Marines, 1ST Marine Division engage the enemy during a firefight with Iraqi Forces near Baghdad, Iraq, during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM

Prosperity comes to Sunni provinces in Iraq

Three major Sunni Muslim provinces in Iraq are witnessing great prosperity after their liberation from ISIS in 2017, with building projects underway.

JANUARY 22, 2023ByHUDHAIFA EBRAHIM/THE MEDIA LINE
Workers walk alongside a road project in Mosul

At a commemoration in London, Iraqi Jews tell of their flight to freedom

The legacy of the millenia-old Jewish communities of the Arab world must be preserved.

DECEMBER 5, 2022ByLYN JULIUS
A PANEL discussion takes place at the November 30 commemoration in London, chaired by the writer (center), and featuring Jack Hikmet and Sharon Theodore, who both lived in Baghdad at the time of the 1969 hangings.