Iraq

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration said on Monday it supported an effort in the U.S. Congress to repeal the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force that allowed the war in Iraq, boosting lawmakers’ push to pull back the authority to declare war from the White House. “The administration …

Iraq announced Saturday it has arrested two generals on suspicion of taking bribes to waive customs duties, a practice estimated to cost the state $6.3 billion a year in lost revenues. Both men worked at the Gulf port of Umm Qasr, a key entry point for imports of foodstuffs and …

Five rockets Wednesday evening targeted Iraq’s Balad air base, with two of the projectiles falling near an area used by US contractors without causing casualties, a security official told AFP. “There were no victims or damage,” the official said. Balad air base, north of Baghdad, is used by US company …

An Iraqi militia commander whose arrest last month sparked a standoff between the government and paramilitary groups was freed Wednesday after a judge ordered his release. The release of Qassim Mahmoud Musleh came as Iranian Gen. Esmail Ghaani, head of the expeditionary Quds Force, arrived in Baghdad to meet with …

Iraqi military said on Sunday that air defenses at Iraq’s Ain al-Asad air base that hosts u.s. Forces, intercept and shot down two drones. The military said in a statement the drones were intercepted and shot down at a round 12:30 a.m. local time. On May 8, an attack by …

Iraqi security forces on Wednesday arrested senior militia commander Qasim Muslih under the country’s anti-terrorism law, three security sources said. Muslih was arrested in Baghdad for involvement in several attacks including recent assaults on Ain Al-Asad air base, which hosts US and other international forces, two of the security sources …

The drone threat posed to US and coalition personnel by Iran-backed militias is growing, and defenses against such threats remain limited — particularly in the face of Tehran’s growing capabilities. That was the clear message delivered by the US military commander in the Middle East during his most recent visit …

The US military commander in the Middle East has issued a new warning over the threat from armed drones launched by Iran-backed militias in Iraq. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie said the drones were difficult to detect and destroy, and he admitted the US was struggling to deal with them. Finding …

Iran has hand picked hundreds of trusted fighters from among the cadres of its most powerful militia allies in Iraq, forming smaller, elite and fiercely loyal factions in a shift away from relying on large groups with which it once exerted influence. The new covert groups were trained last year …

An attack by an unmanned aerial surveillance system on Saturday targeted Iraq’s Ain Al-Asad air base in western Iraq which hosts US and other international forces, but it caused no injuries, a coalition spokesman said. US Army Col. Wayne Marotto, spokesman for the US-led coalition, said on Twitter that the …

Militants using bombs attacked two oil wells at an oilfield close to the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, killing at least one policeman and setting off fires, the oil ministry said. Industry sources said the attack had not affected production. A statement from the oil ministry did not …

At least three rockets hit the Iraqi military air base of Balad, north of Baghdad, where some US contractors are billeted, Iraqi security officials said on Monday. Three other rockets fell near the base in the attack on Sunday, the sources said. No casualties or damage have been reported. No …

Iraq plans to invest $3 billion in the Basra Gas Company over the next five years, the Iraqi News Agency reported on Monday. Source: Reuters

Iran’s top diplomat expressed regret Wednesday that a recording leaked out of him making frank comments about the limits of his power in the Islamic Republic, while the country’s president describing the incident as a means to derail ongoing talks with world powers over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal. Posting to …

Four people were killed and 20 wounded in a car bomb attack on Thursday in the Sadr City neighbourhood of Baghdad, Iraqi police and medical workers said. The car was parked at a busy second-hand equipment market in the mainly Shi’ite Muslim district, police said. An Iraqi military statement said …

A drone dropped explosives near U.S. forces stationed at Erbil airport in northern Iraq late on Wednesday, Kurdish officials said, with no immediate reports of casualties. A separate rocket attack killed a Turkish soldier at a military base nearby, the Turkish defence ministry said. It was the first known attack …

Iran said on Tuesday it will start enriching uranium to 60% purity, a move bringing the fissile material closer to levels suitable for a bomb, after accusing Israel of sabotaging a key nuclear installation. The disclosure came soon before the resumption of talks in Vienna aimed at reviving Iran’s 2015 …

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi agreed Wednesday on the need for their countries to continue coordinating in confronting extremism and terrorism.  Meeting at the Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, the two leaders also agreed to boost economic cooperation, starting with the creation of …

Pope Francis condemned weapons manufacturers and traffickers for selling arms to “terrorists” in comments on Wednesday reflecting on his recent trip to Iraq. He said he was grateful to have been able to make a visit that eluded his predecessors and described it as a “sign of hope after years …

Pope Francis on Sunday met the father of Alan Kurdi, the boy whose body washed up on a Turkish beach six years ago became an image of the suffering of Syrians trying to escape war. The pontiff, winding up a historic trip to Iraq, met Abdullah Kurdi at the end …

The United States will do what it sees as necessary to defend its interests after a rocket attack last week against Iraq’s Ain al-Sada airbase, which hosts American, coalition and Iraqi forces, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday. Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” program, Austin said the United …

Iranian militia groups have active cells operating in the US capital Washington DC and other US cities, according to chatrooms used by the groups. Kawtheryoon Electronic Team, a Telegram network used by Iranian militia groups and supporters, claimed in a recent posting that Iranian “resistance cells are rooted even in …

Pope Francis held a historic meeting with Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani on Saturday, in a powerful appeal for coexistence in a land torn by sectarianism and violence. Francis’s meeting in the holy southern city of Najaf, during a whirlwind and risky tour of Iraq, marked the …

Pope Francis headed to Iraq on Friday for his most risky foreign trip since his election in 2012, and said he felt duty-bound to make the “emblematic” visit because the country had suffered so much for so long. An Alitalia plane carrying him, his entourage, a security detail, and about …

Tensions between the United States and Iran simmered on Wednesday after a new rocket attack against Iraq’s Ain al-Asad air base that hosts U.S. forces, which U.S. officials told Reuters fit the profile of a strike by Iran-backed militia. There were no reports of injuries among U.S. service personnel but …

Several rockets landed on Wednesday at Iraq’s Ain al-Asad air base that hosts United States, coalition and Iraqi forces, two security sources said. No casualties have been reported so far, the sources said. It was the second rocket attack in Iraq this month and came two days before Pope Francis …

The diplomatic crisis between Ankara and Tehran has escalated following the latest statement from Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi, who reiterated an opposition to Turkish military intervention in Iraq, a new move that highlights a broader rivalry between the two countries in the region. “Turkish forces should not pose …

In Mosul, adjacent to the Biblical city of Nineveh, four churches representing different denominations occupy a small square surrounded by low-rise houses, testament to the role Iraq’s once flourishing Christian community played. Today, all four churches are either damaged or destroyed after Islamic State militants occupied the city from 2014-2017, …

At least five protesters were killed and more than 175 people injured on Friday in clashes between demonstrators and security forces in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya, a Reuters witness and other sources said. Among the fatalities, most died from bullet wounds, a hospital source said, adding that about …

An Iran-aligned Iraqi militia group on Tuesday denied any role in recent rocket attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq, but said an attack against Saudi Arabia last month was justified. It is a rare direct denial and the first time the Kataib Hezbollah group, one of the Iraqi factions closest …

Pope Francis is due to hold an inter-religious prayer service at the ancient Mesopotamian site of Ur when he visits Iraq next week – an event local archeologists hope will draw renewed attention to the place revered as the birthplace of Abraham. Popular with Western visitors in the 1970s and …

The United States said on Monday it was outraged by rocket attacks on coalition forces and others in Iraq but stressed it would not “lash out” and would respond at a time and place of its choosing. “We have seen the reports of the rocket fire today … as you …

Several rockets hit the Iraqi military air base of Balad north of Baghdad on Saturday, injuring one Iraqi contractor, Iraqi security officials said on Saturday. No group immediately claimed the attack. It was the second salvo of rockets to hit a base hosting U.S. forces or contractors in less than …

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday Turkey will expand its cross-border operations against Kurdish militants after 13 captured Turks were killed in northern Iraq. Turkey said on Sunday militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) killed the captives, including police and military personnel, as it was carrying out a …

A rocket attack on U.S.-led forces in northern Iraq on Monday killed a civilian contractor and injured a U.S. service member, the U.S. coalition in Iraq said, in the deadliest such attack in almost a year. The barrage of rockets hit in and near a military air base occupied by …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States on Monday of supporting Kurdish militants who Ankara says executed 13 kidnapped Turks in northern Iraq, adding that a U.S. statement of condemnation was a “a joke”. Turkey said on Sunday militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) executed the 13 …

Turkish soldiers conducting an operation against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq have found the bodies of 13 kidnapped Turks executed in a cave, the country’s defence minister said. The identity of the 13 Turkish citizens was unclear and the minister, Hulusi Akar, said their kidnapping had not …

Russia has urged Iran to show restraint after it started producing uranium metal in a new breach of limits laid out in Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. “We understand the logic of their actions and the reasons prompting Iran. Despite this it is necessary to show restraint and a …

Abu Arkan Ibrahim picked up a rifle and joined the Iraqi insurgency against U.S. troops when they occupied his hometown of Fallujah in 2003. He was badly burned in the fighting. Now, he fears the departure of the Americans he once battled. Over the past 17 years, the municipal employee …

Iraq’s prime minister and the GCC secretary general held talks  on Monday to boost trade and supply electricity from the Gulf. Iraqi leader Mustafa Al-Kadhimi and Nayef Al-Hajraf also discussed rebuilding Iraq after the war with Daesh. Iraq has been blighted by a woeful power supply in recent years which feeds …

Pope Francis said on Monday he is intent on making a trip to Iraq next month even if it means many Iraqi Christians won’t be able to see him in person because of COVID-19 restrictions. “I am the pastor of people who are suffering,” he told Catholic New Service (CNS), …

Iraqi security forces have killed Abu Yaser al-Issawi, an Islamic State commander who had claimed to be the leader of the group in Iraq and its “deputy caliph”, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said on Thursday. “Our heroic armed forces have eliminated Daesh commander Abu Yaser Al-Issawi as part of an …

Pope Francis is set for an historic meeting with Iraq’s top Shi’ite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, during a trip to Iraq planned for March, the patriarch of Iraq’s Chaldean Catholic Church said on Thursday. The visit, which eluded Francis’s predecessors, takes place amid deteriorating security in some parts …

An Iraqi-born British national has been criminally charged in New Jersey with involvement in a bribery scheme to obtain millions of dollars of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reconstruction contracts in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Wednesday. The defendant, Shwan Al-Mulla, and his co-conspirators allegedly received confidential …