ع
Sections
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Documents & Memoirs
Regions
  • Gulf
  • MENA
  • Europe
  • USA
  • Asia
  • World
More
  • Videos
  • Cartoons
  • World in photos
  • Infographics
  • Profiles
  • Newsletter

LATEST ISSUE

Latest Issue
Magazine Archive
النسخة العربية
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Tag
  • Iraq
In this photograph provided by the Syrian news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) talks with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell May 3, 2003 in Damascus. Getty

Khaddam Files: Powell hands al-Assad list of demands

The US wanted Syria to abstain from meddling in Iraqi affairs, deny refuge to former Saddam loyalists, expel Palestinian organisations from Syria, and withdraw Syrian military forces from Lebanon

Ibrahim Hamidi 30 March 2024
Iraqi Kurds wave flags as they attend an election rally for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) at the Arbil citadel in Arbil, the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region, on October 7, 2021. AFP

KDP decision to boycott polls sends shockwaves across Iraq

A bold move from the KDP comes with major implications. It reveals deepening constitutional fault lines and growing unease over Iranian influence.

Rustum Mahmud 24 March 2024
Picture released by the Lebanese Prime Minister's office shows US President George W. Bush (R) shaking hands with Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri after their meeting in Washington on 17 April 2002. AFP

Khaddam Files: Bush tells Hariri of intention to remove Saddam

In part 4 of a 7-part series, Al Majalla sheds light on a meeting between Rafic Hariri and George W. Bush. The Lebanese PM left with an understanding as to Saddam's fate and with a message for Iran.

Ibrahim Hamidi 23 March 2024
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw (L) meets with Iranian foreign ministry official Mohsen Aminzadeh at Tehran's Mehrabad airport 09 October 2002. AFP

Khaddam Files: US-Iran backchannels ahead of Iraq invasion

Before it invaded Iraq in 2003, the US was trying to reassure Iran that it would not be targeted next. In part 3 of a 7-part series, Al Majalla publishes private discussions held in Damascus.

Ibrahim Hamidi 22 March 2024
The Kurdish leader was party to secret talks with the Americans in the run-up to the US invasion of Iraq. In part 2 of a 7-part series, Al Majalla reveals for the first time what he told the Syrians. Al Majalla

Khaddam Files: Barzani briefs al-Assad on CIA visit

The Kurdish leader was party to secret talks with the Americans in the run-up to the US invasion of Iraq. In part 2 of a 7-part series, Al Majalla reveals for the first time what he told the Syrians.

Ibrahim Hamidi 21 March 2024
In 2002, the CIA informed Iraqi Kurds of its plan for regime change.  In part 1 of a 7-part series, Al Majalla publishes first-hand accounts of the conversations that would change the Middle East. Al Majalla

Khaddam Files: Talabani informs al-Assad of US decision to topple Saddam

In 2002, the CIA informed Iraqi Kurds of its plan for regime change. In part 1 of a 7-part series, Al Majalla publishes first-hand accounts of the conversations that would change the Middle East.

Ibrahim Hamidi 20 March 2024
Damascus and Tehran wanted invading US troops to get stuck in a 'new Vietnam' and set up an operations room headed by their top lieutenants to cause havoc, never-before-published documents show. Al Majalla

Exclusive: How Syria and Iran plotted over a post-Saddam Iraq

Damascus and Tehran wanted invading US troops to get stuck in a 'new Vietnam' and set up an operations room headed by their top lieutenants to cause havoc, never-before-published documents show.

Ibrahim Hamidi 18 March 2024
The shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf. The city is home to Iraq's influential Religious Authority. Shutterstock

How Iraq’s Religious Authority rose to prominence after Saddam's fall

After the US invasion in 2003 toppled Saddam, Shiite clerics in Najaf helped the country get back on its feet. Its views are still sought, shaping the direction of Iraq today.

Shahd Dashty 17 March 2024
A Shiite fighter from the Hashed al Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) patrols in the village of Ayn Nasir, south of Mosul, on October 29, 2016. AFP

Rogue operators: An in-depth look at Iraq’s powerful militias

Armed groups have proliferated in the Iraqi security vacuum, in some cases supported by Iran. After three US soldiers were killed, the Americans have hit back. How will the militias react now?

Salam Zaidan 04 February 2024
A Kurdish man walks past debris following a missile strike launched by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the Kurdistan region’s capital of Arbil, on January 17, 2024. AFP

Is Iraqi Kurdistan turning into an arena to settle regional scores?

Friday's drone attack on one of Iraq's largest gas fields has led to a temporary suspension of production, resulting in major power cuts across the country's northern Kurdistan region.

Rustum Mahmud 27 January 2024
  •  Load More
  • Popular
  • Editor's Pick
Al Majalla
Politics

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

16 September 2025

Despite Trump's often hostile engagement with traditional US allies, Starmer has trodden a careful path to keep him on side. But is this sustainable?

Christopher Phillips
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
Armed men from the MSA, an armed political movement in Mali's Azawad region, gather in the desert outside Menaka on March 14, 2020. AFP
Politics

The Sahel's paramilitary problem

09 September 2025

Armed groups are being formed in places like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, where state militaries cannot defeat jihadists and separatists alone. Once formed, however, they seldom stay loyal.

Sergey Eledinov
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
Lina Jaradat
Politics

Butterfly effect: can the Palestine protest movement turn the tide?

14 September 2025

For nearly two years, protests around the world calling for an end to Israel's war on Gaza haven't fizzled out, but grown. Their geographic reach and longevity appear to have no precedent in history.

Bryn Haworth

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter

Get the best of Al Majalla, straight to your inbox.

Your newsletter subscriptions are subject to Al Majalla privacy policy and terms and conditions.

OPINIONS

Tony Blair's hand in Gaza's 'Day After' raises eyebrows

Bryn Haworth
Bryn Haworth

Netanyahu’s ‘peace through force’ doctrine hurts Syria talks

Haid Haid
Haid Haid

Nurturing success: Gulf states make inroads in agriculture

Amer Ziab Al-Tamimi
Amer Ziab Al-Tamimi

No red light for Israel's Gaza city invasion

Fares Garabet
Fares Garabet
MORE FROM OPINIONS
logo
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Documents & Memoirs
  • Gulf
  • MENA
  • Europe
  • USA
  • Asia
  • World
  • Videos
  • Cartoons
  • World in photos
  • Infographics
  • Profiles
  • About Al Majalla
  • Al Majalla Team
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact us
logo

© Al Majalla Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

0:00:00
0:00:00