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...
Kirkuk
Drone attack targets gas field in northern Iraq
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) targeted the Khor Mor gas field in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region on February 2, 2025. It is the latest kamikaze drone attack on the gas field run by Dana Gas.
Op-eds
U.S. Marines in Turkey Assaulted by Nationalist Youth Group
Two U.S. Marines in Turkey were assaulted on Monday by more than a dozen members of the Turkish Youth Union (TYU), a secular nationalist youth group opposed to U.S. and European Union influence in the...
Policy Briefs
Iraq heads to provincial elections, first in ten years
Today Iraq is trying to put some of its past behind it.
Op-eds
Ending Iran’s Fictions
When the United States killed Qassim Soleimani at the Baghdad airport in the early hours of January 3, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was not the only target. With Soleimani...
Op-eds
Israel and US face Iran on parallel planes
Iran has crossed the threshold on low-enriched uranium, shortening significantly the time to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear device.
Op-eds
Where the US-Iran shadow war goes from here
The man once celebrated in Tehran as “the living martyr,” Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, is now just a martyr in the traditional sense. Felled by a U.S. drone strike in Iraq, his life ended in the conflict...
Op-eds
Trump picks up Khamenei’s gauntlet
Iran’s ruler misjudges the president and loses his leading terrorist
Op-eds
U.S. kills Iran’s Qods Force commander and Iraq’s deputy PMF leader in strike in Baghdad
A U.S. drone strike near the Baghdad International Airport has reportedly killed Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, the...
Op-eds
Islamic State wages desert-based insurgency in Iraq and Syria
The Islamic State is far from dead in Iraq and Syria. Despite losing its physical caliphate, the group maintained enough manpower and resources to continue waging an insurgency in both countries. And America’s...
Op-eds
Iraq’s 2018 Budget Deadlock Deepens Tensions Ahead of Elections
On March 3, the Iraqi Parliament adopted...
Policy Briefs
The Islamic State is Far From Finished in Iraq
Deadly attacks by the Islamic State are calling into question Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s declaration...
Policy Briefs
Kurd Your Enthusiasm
On October 16, the world woke to footage of the Iraqi army barreling toward Kirkuk, several hundred miles n...
Op-eds
The Kurdish test
In a just world, the Kurds would have a state of their own. Their culture is ancient. They speak a distinctive language. They have a homeland, Kurdistan, ruled for centuries by Arabs, Turks and P...
Op-eds
State Department: ‘Not aware’ of Iranian coordination with Iraq
The State Department on Thursday cast doubt on reports that Iranian military forces have cooperated with Iraq in a brewing fight with a key U.S. partner in the country. "I'm not awa...
Op-eds
The United States Must Prevent Disaster in Kurdistan
You have to hand it to them. U.S. officials nailed it. Prior to the Sept. 25 independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan, they couldn’t have been clearer in setting out the parade of horribles that m...
Op-eds
Why is Turkey so disjointed over the Iraqi Kurds?
Iraq’s Kurds are preparing ...
Op-eds
Iranian Kurds Join the Fight
Co-written by Jonathan Spyer The instability that has swept over the Middle East over the past half-decade has its winners and its losers. For the most part, the much-...
Op-eds
Ankara’s Turkmen House of Cards
The Mosul operation has made the predominantly Turkmen city of Tal Afar the latest focus of Turkey a...
Op-eds
How Will Jihadist Strategy Evolve as the Islamic State Declines?
Co-written by Colin Clarke Jihadist strategy has always been dynamic and opportunistic. Milita...