Fuad Hussein

March 24, 2026 | Seth J. Frantzman |

6 Kurdistan Regional Government soldiers killed in Iranian attack on northern Iraq

On March 24, six members of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Peshmerga forces were killed in an attack in northern Iraq. According to the local Rudaw Media Network, they were killed when...

March 3, 2026 | Bridget Toomey |

U.S. Must Pressure Baghdad To Rein in Iran-Backed Militias

After largely sitting out the 12-Day War between Israel and Iran in June last year, Tehran’s proxies in Iraq quickly jumped into the fighting after the United States and Israel began operations against...

November 14, 2025 | Bridget Toomey |

Iraq’s Election Is Over, But the Real Winner Has Yet To Be Determined

The voting is done in Iraq, but that doesn’t mean there will be a new government anytime soon. The preliminary results of the November 11 election didn’t contain shocking conclusions, but neither did...

July 25, 2025 | Bridget Toomey |

US expresses concern over Iraqi legislation enshrining militias as independent security force

Iraq has revived legislation regarding the Popular Mobilization Authority (PMA), the government agency that oversees the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The PMF, while legally an Iraqi government...

May 1, 2025 | Bridget Toomey |

Iraq is not-so-seriously attempting to exert control over militias and weapons

After months of pressure on Iraq from Washington to disarm Iran-backed militias, reports are emerging that more militants are integrating into the country’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Iraq is...

April 2, 2025 | Bridget Toomey |

Iraq wrestles with US pressure over Iran-backed militias

The US is reportedly applying pressure on the Iraqi government and Iran to disband Iraq’s pro-Iranian militias. These efforts come amid calls from some Iraqi leaders to dissolve the militias or integrate...

March 15, 2025 | Seth J. Frantzman, Bill Roggio

US strike in Iraq eliminates top Islamic State leader

A March 13 airstrike in Iraq’s Anbar province by US Central Command (CENTCOM) eliminated Abdallah Makki Muslih al Rifai, a senior leader of the Islamic State (IS) who may have served as the...

March 6, 2025 | Seth J. Frantzman |

After 2 years, Iraq claims to be searching for kidnapped researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov

On March 5, Iraqi National Security Adviser Qassem al Araji told the Associated Press that “Iraqi authorities are working under the prime minister’s direction” to find Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton University researcher who was kidnapped two years ago in Iraq.

January 30, 2025 | Janatan Sayeh |

Trump’s Return Pushes Iran Into a Defensive Posture

Increasingly fearful of their loosening grip on power, the Islamic Republic’s rulers are recalibrating their foreign policy, at least temporarily, to gauge the impact of Donald Trump’s return to the...

January 28, 2025 | Seth J. Frantzman |

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq face an uncertain future

Iraq’s pro-Iranian militias face an uncertain future after the December fall of the Bashar al Assad regime in Syria and amid pressure from Iraqi authorities for armed groups to be disbanded or incorporated...

October 14, 2024 | Seth J. Frantzman |

Iran seeks regional alliances against Israel amid Gaza conflict

Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi tours region, seeking alliances against Israel, focusing on Gaza conflict, and discussing ties with Iraq, Oman.

April 11, 2024 | Seth J. Frantzman |

Worried about an Iranian attack? That’s exactly what it wants

Iran's week of threats against Israel prompts social media speculation. Foreign Minister's diplomatic calls precede potential military action, highlighting strategic confusion and psychological war

November 2, 2022 | Hussain Abdul-Hussain |

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in Iraq’s New Cabinet

It remains to be seen whether the Iraqi honeymoon continues.

October 28, 2022 |

Iraqi Parliament Approves New National Unity Cabinet

The Iraqi parliament on Thursday approved the “national unity” cabinet of Prime Minister Mohamed al-Sudani. While Sudani presented his 23-minister cabinet as a harmonious team of technocrats, the appointment of holdovers and new figures suggests that his government is not a coherent bloc but a gathering of competing powers. The development comes a year after Iraqis voted out incumbents and their power-sharing arrangements.

October 22, 2020 | John Hannah, Behnam Ben Taleblu

The Trump Administration’s High-Stakes Gambit to Curtail Rocket Attacks in Iraq

In an unexpected announcement on October 10, a group of Iran-backed Shiite militia groups declared their intention to suspend forthwith their attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq, while conditioning the ceasefire’s...

February 9, 2015 | Daveed Gartenstein-Ross |

How Many Fighters Does the Islamic State Really Have?

Estimates of the number of fighters in the ranks of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are extraordinarily wide-ranging. On the low end of things, CNN’s Barbara Starr recently...

September 10, 2012 | |

The Kurdish Factor

How an ethnic minority shaped the Middle East.

October 16, 2006 | National Interest Online

A War, or Un-War?

Dear Dr. Pham: In the spirit of constructive debate to advance American foreign policy to navigate "through the shoals of the coming years" and "safely steer the ship of state",...