May 16, 2026 2:13 PM

India Committed to Strengthening Ties with Iraq: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday congratulated Ali Falih Kadhim al-Zaidi on assuming office as the new Prime Minister of Iraq and reaffirmed India’s commitment to strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. In a post on X, Prime Minister Modi said, “Heartiest congratulations to Ali Falih Kadhim al-Zaidi on assuming office as Prime Minister of Iraq. India highly values its long-standing and friendly ties with Iraq and remains firmly committed to further strengthening our ...

May 4, 2026 10:33 AM

OPEC+ agrees third oil output quota hike since Hormuz closure

OPEC+ agreed on Sunday a modest oil output hike for June, an increase that will remain largely on paper as long as the Iran war continues to disrupt Gulf oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. Seven OPEC+ countries will raise oil output targets by 188,000 barrels per day in June, the third consecutive monthly increase, OPEC+ said in a statement after an online meeting. The increase is the same as that agreed for May minus the share of the United Arab Emirates, which left the group on May 1....

April 2, 2026 6:26 PM

Airstrikes in Iraq kill PMF fighters as US orders evacuations

 Airstrikes in Iraq have killed three members of the Popular Mobilisation Forces and two Iraqi police officers near Kirkuk, as tensions linked to the US Israeli confrontation with Iran spill across borders.The PMF, originally formed to fight ISIL and later integrated into Iraq's official security structure, blamed the United States and Israel for the attack. No immediate confirmation has been issued by Washington or Tel Aviv.Separately, security sources  say two Iraqi policemen were killed in ...

March 19, 2026 11:38 AM

How many people have been killed in the US-Israeli war on Iran?

Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and Iran launched strikes in response. Here are the tolls reported by Thursday, which Reuters has not independently verified. IRAN U.S.-based rights group HRANA said on Tuesday that 3,114 people have been killed. It said 1,354 of those were civilians including 207 children. The group says its data comes from field reports, local contacts, medical and emergency sources, civil soc...

March 17, 2026 1:53 PM

Iraq in talks with Iran to safeguard oil tanker traffic through Hormuz

Iraq's oil minister said Baghdad is talking to Iran about allowing some of the country's oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the state news agency reported on Tuesday, as Iraq seeks to ease disruptions to crude exports following recent attacks on tankers in its own waters. Iraq is also working to restore a disused pipeline that would allow oil to be pumped directly to Turkey's Ceyhan port without passing through the Kurdistan region, Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said in a video ...

March 17, 2026 1:39 PM

West Asia Conflict Escalates as Drone and Missile Strikes Hit Baghdad and Doha

West Asia witnessed a sharp escalation early Tuesday as coordinated aerial attacks struck the Iraqi capital Baghdad and Qatar’s capital Doha, signalling a widening regional conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran. In Baghdad, the U.S. Embassy inside the heavily fortified Green Zone came under a fresh barrage of drones and rockets, marking the second such attack in three days. Iraqi authorities reported multiple interceptions by air defence systems, though at least one projectile ...

March 13, 2026 4:31 PM

Four US service members killed in plane crash over Iraq

Four of the six crew members aboard a U.S. military aircraft that crashed in western Iraq are confirmed to have been killed, the U.S. military said on Friday, as rescue efforts continued for the remaining two. A U.S. military refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq on Thursday, in an incident the military said involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or friendly fire. The deaths add to the seven U.S. service members who have already been killed as part of U...

March 3, 2026 6:35 PM

Global energy costs soar as Iran crisis disrupts shipping, oil and gas production

Global oil and gas prices jumped on Tuesday as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran halted energy exports from the Middle East, with Tehran attacking ships and energy facilities, closing navigation in the Gulf and forcing production stoppages from Qatar to Iraq. Oil prices have risen more than 15% since Friday and the benchmark Brent Crude contract LCOc1 gained 6% on Tuesday to above $82 per barrel, the highest since July 2024, while European gas prices TFMBMc1 have soared 40% adding to a 40% surge on ...

February 13, 2026 7:25 PM

US military says it completed Syria mission to transfer ISIS members to Iraq

U.S. military forces have completed their mission in Syria to transfer Islamic State detainees to Iraq, U.S. Central Command said on Friday. "The 23-day transfer mission began on Jan. 21 and resulted in U.S. forces successfully transporting more than 5,700 adult male ISIS fighters from detention facilities in Syria to Iraqi custody," Central Command said in a statement. The transfer started after a rapid offensive by Syrian government forces in northeast Syria against Kurdish-led Syrian Democr...

January 5, 2026 10:19 AM

Forty-one candidates enter Iraq’s presidential race as nomination deadline approaches

Iraq's presidential nomination deadline is set to expire on January 5 as forty-one candidates have entered the presidential race, including the daughter of former President Fouad Masum. Despite the crowded field, only 30 candidates had formally submitted nomination papers to parliament's legal department by the conclusion of Sunday, indicating an imminent narrowing of the race through procedural vetting. Iraq held parliamentary elections in the second week of November last year, followed by the...