Iraq

Voices from the Arab Press: Iran, the Kurds, and the future of Arab power

A weekly selection of opinions and analyses from the Arab media around the world.

VOTING IN Egypt’s parliamentary elections, in Giza, Nov. 2025.
Benjamin Hassin overlooks the Western Wall, just weeks after returning to Israel following more than 11 years in Iraqi prisons, including nearly five years under a death sentence.

The long way home: Free after decade in Iraqi prison, Benjamin Hassin begins new life in Jerusalem

Protesters wave Iranian pre-Islamic revolution of 1979 and shout slogans during a demonstration in front of the Brandenburger Gate as the sun shines in Berlin, on March 1, 2026.

Human rights group petitions Germany to investigate Iranian crimes against ethnic minorities

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 strikes Iranian opposition group Kurdistan Freedom Party in latest attack - analysis


As US considers cutting funds from Kurdish forces, concerns rise over stability in Middle East

The Peshmerga have played a key role over the years fighting ISIS and securing the autonomous Kurdistan Region. However, efforts to reform them have not proceeded as planned.

A group of young male and female Peshmergas belonging to the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), near one of their bases in the mountains of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, 35 miles from the Iranian border, on January 17, 2026.

Seven ancient Parthian tombs unearthed in Iraq’s Kurdistan region amid survey of 6,500 sites

"One of the [tombs] contained a clay coffin with a small headless figurine of a pregnant woman," Muhammad Lashkri, director of antiquities and heritage affairs in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, said.

Photo depicts a grave made of burnt clay found in Mosul Dam that is exhibited in Zakho Museum in Zakho, Kurdistan Region of Iraq on June 2, 2025.

US Ambassador Barrack has a unique position, balancing work in Syria, Turkey, Iraq - analysis

This month tensions exploded into view with Israeli airstrikes in northern Syria. Barrack, who has been playing an important role in Syria for the last year is now front and center.

S Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack accompanies US President Donald Trump (not seen) during a press conference following the annual NATO Summit at Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey on July 8, 2026; illustrative

Israel’s second War of Independence: The end of strategic illusions - opinion

Israel needs a government capable of combining military power with diplomatic judgment and building regional alliances.

A PLENUM session at the Knesset.

Iran’s powerful militia network could expand war - opinion

For the foreseeable future, Iran can continue to rely on this substantial external military power to bolster its own military capacity.

Fighters lift flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed a day earlier in a US strike in northern Iraq, on December 4, 2023.

Israel and Turkey face a dangerous clash over Syria's future - analysis

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani rejected claims that Turkey intended to establish a military base at Abu al-Duhur, saying the site was being restored for use by the Syrian Air Force.

Four IAF F-16 aircraft participate in Operation Roaring Lion, March 5, 2026.

Iraq appears to delay militia disarmament as Iran-backed factions pressure Baghdad - analysis

Now Iraq appears to be backtracking on the deadline for placing militia weapons under state control.

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 20,000 illiterate electric ministry employees is indicator of larger dysfunction - analysis

The problem is that the 20,000 employees are working in a key energy infrastructure field in a country that is now at the center of the Iran conflict with the US and Israel.

 The electricity supply problem can be seen everywhere on the streets of Iraq.

Iran grants permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through Strait of Hormuz

Iraqi President Nizar Amedi said that Iran had facilitated the passage of vessels carrying Iraqi oil through the Strait in recent days, and Baghdad had discussed the export of Iraqi oil with Tehran.

Drone view of oil tanker HELGA berthed at one of Iraq's southern offshore oil terminals near Basra as it prepares to load crude oil, becoming the second vessel to arrive since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, April 24, 2026.

Renowned IDF paratrooper, architect of Kurdish relations, Tzuri Sagi dies aged 92

During Sagi's 32 years of service, he held operational positions in the IDF’s regular Paratroopers Brigade, the reserve Paratroopers Brigade, and served as commander of regional brigades.

Retired Brig.-Gen. Tzuri Sagi.