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النسخة العربية
  • Politics
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  • Iraq
An Iraqi man and children hold Iranian flags as people march during celebrations to mark the ceasefire between Israel and Iran in the southern city of Basra on June 24, 2025. HUSSEIN FALEH / AFP

Iraq's US-Iran balancing act faces crunch time

Baghdad wants good relations with Washington, but its ties with Tehran run deep. Under increased pressure, it may have to pick a side once and for all.

Ayad Al-Anbar 07 August 2025
Sara Padovan

Changing Baghdad’s locks: US pressure key to breaking Iran’s grip

Is Iraq finally stepping out from under Iran's shadow? Al Majalla covers the story from different angles and perspectives.

Al Majalla - London 04 August 2025
Nesma Moharam

Why escaping Iran's grip is harder for Iraq

A pressure campaign by Washington to curb Tehran's influence over Baghdad seems to be yielding results, but any moves to disarm Iran-allied militias could stoke serious violence

Robert Ford 04 August 2025
Sara Padovan

Iran's weakened hand in Iraq shows US pressure is working

Washington's long-term strategy to unshackle Iraq from Iranian influence is yielding results. Having pulled a potent mix of financial and military levers, the militias have been eerily quiet of late.

Al Majalla - London 04 August 2025
An Iraqi fisherman casts his net in the Euphrates River, which passes through the city of Nasiriyah the capital of the Iraqi Dhi Qar Governorate on January 2, 2024. Asaad Niazi / AFP

Nasiriyah and Iraq’s rural-urban divide

It is no easy task to write about a wound that has yet to heal. In Nasiriyah and the Reed Hut, published by Al-Masar Publishing House, Ahmed Abdul Sattar reopens this wound

Marwan Yassin Al Dulaimi 30 July 2025
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi Al Majalla / Nour Ayoub

Mustafa Al-Kadhimi on why he returned to Iraq

Intelligence chief and then prime minister, he left Iraq after threats and an assassination attempt from Iranian-backed militias. Now that he is back, he tells Al Majalla what he has planned.

Ibrahim Hamidi 09 April 2025
A PMF member holds a picture of Iran's late and current supreme leaders Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (R) and Ali Khamenei to mark annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day commemorations in Baghdad on April 5, 2024. MURTAJA LATEEF / AFP

Iraq moves to give PMF greater role in state security

The US wants this huge Iran-aligned group to disband, but with 240,000 personnel, an arsenal of weapons, and a $3.4bn annual budget, the PMF is closer to becoming an integral part of the Iraqi state

Ayad Al-Anbar 03 April 2025
A broken statue of Hafez al-Assad lies outside the Ba'ath Party offices in Damascus. AFP

The Ba’ath fall in Syria and Iraq: Similarities and differences

The Ba'ath movement was a big part of the Arab world for almost 80 years. Its demise in Iraq after 35 years in power—and in Syria just recently—comes with important lessons.

Wahid Abdel Maguid 13 January 2025
Eduardo Ramon

Will Trump withdraw US troops from Iraq and Syria?

While Trump's rhetoric doesn't always match his actions, there are more signs than not that the US will draw down its forces in the region, leaving room for other actors to step in

Caroline Rose 11 January 2025
A member of Iraq's PMF stands in front of a banner depicting slain Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (L) and IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, on Jan 2, 2023, at a ceremony marking the anniversary of their assassination. AFP

While Israel now wants to go after Iraqi militias, Trump may not

Trump is unlikely to join an Israeli foray into Iraq, but he may decide to withhold the $250mn annual military assistance to Baghdad as a way to pressure the government to rein in its militias

David Schenker 23 December 2024
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Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (C) reviews a military honour guard with Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing's Great Hall of the People on January 31, 2019. GREG BAKER / AFP
Politics

Pivot to China? Gulf states mull options after Doha strike

12 September 2025

Israel's attack in Qatar erodes Gulf states' trust in the US and serves as a stark reminder that they cannot depend on American security guarantees

Xiaotong Yang
A Hezbollah flag is placed in front of the shrine of Shamoun al-Safa, built within a castle in the village of Shamaa in southern Lebanon's Tyre governorate, on January 31, 2025, that was heavily damaged by Israeli bombing. Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP
Business & Economy

Trump Economic Zone plan raises eyebrows in Lebanon

11 September 2025

Many Lebanese see the project as a demographic one with economic dressings aimed at expelling the country's southern population from their lands

Souraya Chahine
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa Al Majalla
Politics

From Idlib to New York: Sharaa’s winding road to the UN

12 September 2025

From the plains of Idlib to the presidential palace in Damascus and now the UN headquarters in Manhattan, Al Majalla traces the Syrian president's journey to get to this historic moment

Ibrahim Hamidi
Opinion

'The Voice of Hind Rajab' shows cries for justice are only getting louder

07 September 2025

A 24-minute standing ovation at the film premiere was more than a symbolic gesture of justice for Israel's murder of little Hind, but a heartfelt cry of real anguish over the ongoing genocide in Gaza

Samer Abou Hawwach
Egyptian writer May Telmissany poses during a portrait session held on April 15, 2014, in Paris, France. Ulf Andersen/Getty
Culture & Social Affairs

May Telmissany: writing is an act of resistance against the ugliness of the world

14 September 2025

The acclaimed Egyptian writer talks love, betrayal, autobiography, and the lack of Arab literary identity

El-Sayed Hussein

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OPINIONS

No parent should lose a child to unsafe care

Hanan Balkhy
Hanan Balkhy

Trump's visit tests 'special' US-UK relationship

Christopher Phillips
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Electricity consumption: an indicator of economic growth

Al Majalla - London
Al Majalla - London

The Sahel's paramilitary problem

Sergey Eledinov
Sergey Eledinov
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