Najaf

October 1, 2024 | David Daoud |

Hezbollah c’est moi: The Party of God without Hassan Nasrallah

On September 27, the unimaginable happened. At approximately 5:22 p.m. local time, reports emerged of a massive Israeli strike on the predominantly Shia southern suburbs of Beirut, known colloquially as...

February 21, 2024 | Janatan Sayeh |

CBI Revoking Bank Melli’s License Is Unlikely to Curb Iran’s Sanction Evasion in Iraq

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) revoked Bank Melli of Iran’s operating license on February 8, following increased U.S. pressure to untangle Iraq’s financial system from Iranian money laundering and...

August 26, 2023 | Hussain Abdul-Hussain |

‘Ghosts of Beirut’ gets Hezbollah’s most wanted all wrong

Showtime miniseries is thrilling but its portrayal of Hezbollah’s American-killing Imad Mughniyeh is wide off the historical mark

March 13, 2023 | |

Senior Muslim Clerics Issue Fatwa Against Hamas

The Islamic Fatwa Council — a non-governmental clerical body headquartered in Najaf, Iraq — issued a fatwa, or religious edict, last week condemning Hamas’ repression of Palestinians...

January 12, 2022 | Hussain Abdul-Hussain |

Iraq election drubbing leaves Iran scrambling to save its militias

Amid the theatrics and walkouts, the meeting illustrated the magnitude of the defeat suffered by the parties loyal to the Iranian regime in the fourth election since the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

November 19, 2021 | Hussain Abdul-Hussain |

Helping Iran fail in Iraq

Hours after the failed Nov. 7 assassination attempt on Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al Kadhimi, pro-Iran militias in Iraq claimed responsibility but denied that Tehran had ordered the attack. Not only...

November 10, 2021 | Hussain Abdul-Hussain |

Biden Administration Hesitates to Condemn Iranian Terrorism in Iraq

If Washington and the West stand behind the anti-Iran coalition, it might be able to overcome Tehran and disband its troublemaking militias.

October 16, 2021 | Hussain Abdul-Hussain |

In Private, Iraqis Support Peace With Israel

In public, they are forced to say the opposite. Even Iraqis living abroad fear Palestinian social shaming should they support peace and normalization with the Jewish state.

March 23, 2020 | John Hannah |

New Iraqi Prime Minister-Designate Poses Threat to Iran, Opportunity for U.S.

The March 17 nomination of Adnan al-Zurfi as Iraq’s prime minister-designate highlights the extent to which Iran’s stranglehold on Iraqi politics could be eroding. As such, Zurfi’s nomination holds...

March 10, 2020 | Tony Badran |

Crisis Of The Iranian Order

The “transnational”: this is how Qassem Soleimani, the former head of Iran’s Qods Force, who was killed in a January U.S. missile strike in Baghdad, is described in Hezbollah-run schools in Lebanon....

February 20, 2020 | John Hannah |

Iraq Needs Regime Change Again

Musical chairs in the Iraqi parliament can no longer solve the country's problems.

February 13, 2020 | John Hannah |

Nomination for Iraqi Premiership Largely Brokered by Iranian Axis

Despite the promises of Iraq’s prime minister-designate, Mohammed Allawi, to address the demands of protesters that drove his predecessor from office, his nomination has been met with universal derision...

April 28, 2019 | Benjamin Weinthal |

Finnish MP Under Fire For Comparing Israel To ISIS

Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the head of the Jerusalem office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told the Jerusalem Post on Sunday: “This guy [Hussein al-Taee] is obviously an antisemite.”

December 25, 2018 | Benjamin Weinthal |

Top Iranian cleric Shahroudi dies who oversaw 2,000 executions

Shahroudi, 70, was a close ally of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and had been seen by analysts as a possible successor to him.

April 3, 2018 | John Hannah |

Trump Can’t Afford to Forget About Iraq

In January, with an eye toward national elections on May 12, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi stunned many observers when he ...

November 29, 2017 | John Hannah

Two Cheers for Rex

I rarely find myself thinking along similar lines as fellow Foreign Policy contributor Stephen Walt. Nevertheless, just as I was contemplating an article that would take note of a few o...

September 8, 2017 | Reuel Marc Gerecht |

Perfect Partners

When he won the election, Donald Trump—along with his national security adviser Michael Flynn, his all-purpose counselor Stephen Bannon, and, perhaps, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner—wa...

July 13, 2016 | Emanuele Ottolenghi, Mark Dubowitz

The Boeing Sale to Iran Runs Into Turbulence

No wonder the House moved last week to try to block Boeing’s tentative agreement to sell 80 passenger jets to Iran’s government-owned airline, Iran Air. Congress is rightly concerned...

July 6, 2016 | Saeed Ghasseminejad |

Iran Stirs Up More Trouble in the Gulf

Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ external operations wing the Quds Force, ...

June 21, 2016 | Emanuele Ottolenghi |

The risks of the Iran-Boeing deal

Boeing's potential deal to sell aircraft to Iran may have benef...