Shia cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr has fought his way to power from the streets since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 to become one of Iraq's most popular and polarising political leaders and a “tough guy” who claims to protect the country's national (...)
Eager to end the protracted political crisis in strife-torn Iraq, Iraqi President Barham Salih has appointed a new prime minister to replace Adil Abdul-Mahdi who resigned in November amidst mass anti-government demonstrations.
However, Iraqi (...)
Since the beginning of October, most of Iraq has been gripped by massive and disaffected crowds filling the streets of Baghdad and major cities in the south protesting against the misrule of the country's self-serving elite, together with its (...)
Like many grand ayatollahs before him, Ali Sistani is among the small group of senior clerics who lead the Shia theological school in Najaf, the bastion of spiritual Shiism, which stretches its moral power across Iraq and much of the world's Shia (...)
Shortly before Iran fired a barrage of missiles on two Iraqi bases that host US troops last week, Tehran sent an official verbal message to Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi saying that an attack on the bases was imminent.
Two days (...)
The prospect of a broader conflict between Iran and the United States was reinforced Wednesday after the latter attacked two bases in Iraq that house American troops with a barrage of missiles hours after the remains of an Iranian commander killed (...)
The words revolution, uprising and revolt often conjure up images of sudden and forceful social eruptions, sparking random violence and triggering chaos.
The scale of the death and destruction associated with the French and Russian Revolutions, for (...)
When anti-government protests turned deadly in the southern city of Nassiriya in Iraq where the security forces had shot dead some two dozen protesters last month, local tribes stepped in to try to stop what could have turned into carnage.
Local (...)
Since the start of the protests in Iraq on 1 October, Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi who is backed by the country's ruling Shia elites has been manoeuvering himself into a terrible corner, one with devastating implications for the country.
A (...)
Iraq has been rocked by anti-government protests for more than five weeks now, with the violence and anger steadily escalating. What began as peaceful mass marches has exploded into the country's biggest political crisis since the US-led invasion in (...)
The Iraqi protesters who briefly suspended their activities in Baghdad's Tahrir Square last week to watch their national football team playing Iran on a large television screen erupted with joy as their players finally secured a 2-1 win over Iran to (...)
When tribal chieftains met last week in a small town north of Baghdad to see what they should do with the protests that have gripped the country's south and capital city, one key question emerged: how will Iran respond if the uprising fails?
“They (...)
The growing discontent in Iraq, fuelled by gross state failure, has led to a political crisis. The protests entered their second month this week, with no signs of abating.
Protesters have been in the streets of Baghdad and across Iraq's southern (...)
Weeks of demonstrations in Baghdad and across Iraq's largely Shia-populated southern cities have pitted protesters against the police, local governments, and the country's ruling elites, and there is no question they are shaking the sectarian (...)
From the moment anti-government protests engulfed many parts of Iraq earlier this month, Iranian officials and media were quick to condemn the uprising as orchestrated by the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia, Iran's arch enemies.
The (...)
By many standards, the image of Iraqi Shia leader Muqtada Al-Sadr with Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that surfaced last week should have been an extraordinary sight for ordinary Iraqis and Iranians and many beyond the two neighbouring countries.
The (...)
When two oil tankers were damaged in a suspected attack in the waters between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran last week, Iraq's Ministry of Foreign affairs shyly condemned what “has happened” to the vessels.
In a statement, the ministry also (...)
When former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein launched a full-scale incursion into Iran in 1980, he was hoping to take advantage of the chaos after the Islamic Revolution to stifle Iran and to assert Iraq's role as the new dominant power in the Arabian (...)
It is a rough time in the Middle East. An accelerating drive to counter Iran could lead to a military showdown between the United States and its Arab allies and the Islamic Republic.
Iraq, Syria and Yemen, where pro-Iran armed groups are operating, (...)
When former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein launched a full-scale incursion into Iran in 1980, he was hoping to take advantage of the chaos after the Islamic Revolution to stifle Iran and to assert Iraq's role as the new dominant power in the Arabian (...)
In his election campaign trail, US President Donald Trump was a vocal anti-war candidate. At a Republican Party debate, Trump called the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq a “big, fat mistake.”
Trump repeatedly criticised his predecessors George W Bush (...)
It is a rough time in the Middle East. An accelerating drive to counter Iran could lead to a military showdown between the United States and its Arab allies and the Islamic Republic.
Iraq, Syria and Yemen, where pro-Iran armed groups are operating, (...)
In his election campaign trail, US President Donald Trump was a vocal anti-war candidate. At a Republican Party debate, Trump called the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq a “big, fat mistake.”
Trump repeatedly criticised his predecessors George W Bush (...)
In the banner headline of a landmark report released by the International Crisis Group in March 2005, the world-famous think tank asked, how much influence does Iran have in Iraq?
Two years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, Iran's influence in the (...)
It is telling that some historical accounts have it that the world's first electrochemical battery may had been invented in Babylon, and it has been suggested that the cells might have been used to electroplate metal or as an igniter.
The Babylon (...)
