Latest Iraq government News

Iraqi government asks the United Nations to wind down its political mission in the country

May. 10, 2024 17:56 PM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi government has requested that the United Nations end a mission set up to promote governance and human rights reforms in the country by the end of 2025, the latest in a series of international bodies operating in the nation that Iraq has sought to wind down. ...

US repatriates 11 citizens from notorious camp for relatives of Islamic State militants in Syria

May. 07, 2024 11:07 AM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — The United States has repatriated 11 of its citizens from sprawling camps in northeastern Syria that house tens of thousands of family members of suspected Islamic State militants, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday. The repatriation was the largest Washington has...

Turkey says it has carried out new airstrikes against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq

May. 06, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey has carried out a new round of airstrikes targeting Kurdish militants in neighboring Iraq, the Turkish defense ministry said Monday. Warplanes struck suspected positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in the regions of Hakurk, Metina and...

Iraq repatriates nearly 700 more citizens linked to the Islamic State group from a Syrian camp

Apr. 29, 2024 10:35 AM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq has repatriated hundreds more of its citizens linked to the Islamic State group from a sprawling camp in northeastern Syria, Iraqi and Syrian officials said Monday. Ali Jahangir, a spokesman for Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displaced, said the nearly 700...

Passage of harsh anti-LGBTQ+ law in Iraq draws diplomatic backlash

Apr. 28, 2024 13:48 PM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Human rights groups and diplomats criticized a law that was quietly passed by the Iraqi parliament over the weekend that would impose heavy prison sentences on gay and transgender people. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that the...

Iraqi authorities are investigating the killing of a social media influencer

Apr. 27, 2024 15:25 PM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi authorities on Saturday were investigating the killing of a well-known social media influencer, who was shot by an armed motorcyclist in front of her home in central Baghdad. Ghufran Mahdi Sawadi, known as “Um Fahad," was popular on the social media sites...

Kurdish separatists and water issues loom large in long-awaited visit of Turkey's Erdogan to Iraq

Apr. 22, 2024 13:33 PM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdog an arrived in Iraq on Monday for his first official visit in more than a decade as Ankara seeks greater cooperation from Baghdad in its fight against a Kurdish militant group that has a foothold in Iraq. Other issues also loom...

Iraq investigates a blast at a base of Iran-allied militias that killed 1. US denies involvement

Apr. 20, 2024 08:45 AM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi authorities said Saturday that they were investigating an explosion that struck a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias, killing one person and injuring eight. Militia officials had initially described the...

Iraq's prime minister heads to Michigan to meet Arab Americans at a tense time for the Middle East

Apr. 18, 2024 20:51 PM EDT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The leader of Iraq traveled to Michigan on Thursday following a sit-down with President Joe Biden to meet with the state's large Iraqi community and update them on escalating tensions in the Middle East following Iran’s weekend aerial assault on Israel. ...

Biden hosts Iraqi leader after Iran's attack on Israel throws Mideast into greater uncertainty

Apr. 15, 2024 16:56 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday hosted Iraq’s leader at the White House as his administration worked to prevent an escalation in Mideast hostilities following Iran’s weekend aerial assault on Israel. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani was visiting for...