Iran iraq

US withdrawal from Iraq will be watched closely by Iran-backed militias, Kurds - analysis

Iranian-backed militias and Iran have already targeted the Kurdistan region with more than 1,000 drone and missile attacks since February 2026, and it will be vulnerable if the US withdraws.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Damaged buildings after, what the security sources say, a drone struck an arms depot in an attack on the headquarters of an Iranian Kurdish opposition group in which two fighters were wounded, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in the town of Dekala in Iraq's Kurdistan region March 4, 2026.
A member of the Kurdistan Free Life Party, known as PJAK, stands inside a tunnel at a site near the Iraqi border with Iran, on the outskirts of Penjwen, in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, Iraq, March 24, 2026.

Iranian attacks on Iraqi Kurdistan aim to transform Iraq into buffer zone, spread war - analysis

Iran’s attacks seek to strike an area of Iraq that the regime assumes is not well protected, in a push to move fighting outside Iran and avoid insurrections inside.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Mourners attend the funeral of Haider al-Moussawi, head of the security unit in the Shi'ite armed group Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, and senior Hezbollah figure Abu Ali Khalil, who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Tehran, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Baghdad, Iraq, June 22, 2025.

Iraqi militias raise new conditions for disarmament, Iraq takes 'wait-and-see' approach - analysis

If the groups refuse to disarm, Iraq will take a wait-and-see approach, with many saying that they already gave up weapons to the PMF, while also being part of these forces.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Youths ride vehicles while waving flags of Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Hezbollah in Baghdad on June 15, 2026, during celebrations following the announcement of a deal to end the war between Iran and the US.

Iraq sentences militia member for kidnapping American journalist, in rare move against Iran proxies

“Iraq's Central Criminal Court has sentenced Amir Rahim Jabar Lazim to 15 years in prison under the Anti-Terrorism Law," read the announcement shared by the victim, journalist Shelly Kittelson.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN

Iraq says gas supplies from Iran have been halted as Trump's 'maximum pressure' campaign kicks in

The ministry reported that 4,000 to 4,500 megawatts of power have been lost from the electrical system due to the halt in Iranian gas supplies.

DECEMBER 23, 2025ByREUTERS
Cracked brick wall painted with a Iranian flag on the left and a Iraqi flag on the right.

The hit that wasn’t: When Saddam Hussein offered to kill Khomeini and the Shah said no

This decision, made quietly, cautiously, and with the best of intentions, reshaped the fate of a nation and the entire region.

JULY 7, 2025ByALEX WINSTON
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (L) who became Iran's first Supreme Leader after the Islamic Revolution and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who offered the Shah of Iran to dispose of the cleric

How Iraqi militias siphoned billions from Visa and Mastercard for Iran - WSJ

US and Iraqi authorities revealed a complex scheme involving prepaid cards that funneled illicit funds to Iranian-backed terror militias.

JUNE 2, 2025ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Members of the Iran-backed Iraqi militias al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah appear in Baghdad on December 4, 2023.

Arab League Summit in Baghdad is about a new Arab world - analysis

The reports in Iraq note that the summit seeks to focus on many issues in the region.

MAY 17, 2025BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein welcomes Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani upon arrival at Baghdad International Airport ahead of the 34th Arab League summit, in Baghdad, Iraq, May 17, 2025.

Iraqi president highlights 'historic' ties with Iran during Davos address

Abdul Latif Rashid discussed Iraq-Iran relations and Iraqi sovereignty at Davos.

JANUARY 25, 2025BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Presidential candidate Abdul Latif Rashid attends a parliamentary session to vote for a new head of state president in Baghdad, Iraq, October 13, 2022.

The world has Israel to thank for no nuclear fears in post-Assad Syria- opinion

Thanks to Israel, the now-impending Syrian chaos may be deeply destabilizing, but it will plausibly be nonnuclear.

JANUARY 7, 2025ByLOUIS RENÉ BERES
IN SEPTERMBER 2007, IDF fighter jets carried out Operation Orchard and destroyed a nuclear reactor in Syria. If not for the Israeli operation, nuclear weapons could eventually have fallen into the hands of Sunni jihadi terrorist organizations now beginning to contend for power in post-Assad Syria.

Sirens activated in Jerusalem Hills as IAF intercepts missile form Yemen, drones from Iraq

The IDF confirmed that it had identified a single missile launch from Yemen, which was successfully intercepted with no casualties reported.

NOVEMBER 11, 2024ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
(Illustrative) An Iron Dome anti-missile projectile intercepts a rocket that was fired from Gaza, above the Israeli city of Ashkelon, Israel May 4, 2019.

How will Iran’s proxies in Iraq respond to US election? – analysis

Iranian militias ramp up drone attacks on Israel, await US response post-election.

NOVEMBER 6, 2024BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Iraqi Shiite militia fighters hold the Islamic State flag as they celebrate after breaking the siege of Amerli by Islamic State militants, September 1, 2014.

Iran uses proxy militias in Iraq to pressure the US - analysis

Iran is prodding militias to increase threats to the US in Iraq in order to see if the US will pressure Israel not to strike harder at Hezbollah.

JULY 1, 2024BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
PROTESTERS BURN an Israeli and a US flag in Tehran, earlier this year. The Iranian cyber threat is especially troubling for the Jewish Diaspora, which Iran targets as part of its broader agenda, encapsulated in its chilling slogan: ‘Death to America, Death to Israel,’ says the writer.

Israel-Iran alliance: Jerusalem's arm sales to the Islamic Republic during Iran-Iraq War

Clandestine Israeli sales of military equipment helped turn the tide of the war and prevent Iran from falling to Saddam’s forces.

JUNE 14, 2024ByALEX WINSTON
Snapshots illustrating the relationship between Israel and Iran