Iraq
Mourning Khamenei
Expressions of reverence, grief and devotion will abound at the supreme leader's funeral in Iraq, but the Axis of Resistance’s messaging simplifies a much more complex reality.
The Afterlife of Iraq’s Militias
Iraqi Shiite militias, now the last intact pillar of Iran’s regional network, are navigating an existential conflict. Embedded within the Iraqi state yet aligned with Tehran, their future, and Iraq’s, hinges on the outcome of a wider confrontation with the United States.
Meet the Kurdish Militias Trump and Netanyahu Wanted To Enlist
As Israeli-American strikes pummel Iran, and discussion proliferates over whether Kurdish factions will enter the fight, Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in Iraqi exile are weighing a familiar dilemma: seize a historic opening, or risk being used and abandoned again.
Celebrating Syria’s Liberation From a Prison Cell in Iraq
The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime was the happiest day of Elizabeth Tsurkov’s life, though she had at the time been tortured and imprisoned for nearly two years on a militia base in Iraq.
The Forgotten Photographs of Iraq’s Yazidis
Buried for 90 years, a cache of Yazidi photographs has become a bridge between the Iraqi community’s past and today.
The Child Brides of Iraq
A proposed amendment to Iraq’s laws would allow Shiite communities to govern marriage according to religious jurisprudence and threatens to normalize child marriage in the country. This looming rejection of human rights is notably a by-product of Iraq's sectarian political system, which emerged after the U.S. invasion in 2003.
Big Oil Is Fueling a Rise in Cancer in Iraq’s Basra
In Iraq’s Basra, age is a luxury. Residents live under a constant cloud of pollution from oil flares, leading to a surge in cancer cases, while the government colludes with oil companies to dismiss the crisis