The US administration appears to have great expectations for Iraq’s new prime minister, Ali Falah al-Zaidi. But the expectations need to be tempered.
After months of deadlock following the November 2025 elections, Iraq’s parliament approved a new government under Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on May 14, 2026 — just as the country has become a battleground in the US-Israel-Iran war. Zaidi inherits a daunting brief: reviving a struggling economy, reining in armed factions, and steering Iraq through a perilous regional landscape. Dr. Renad Mansour, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme and director of the Iraq Initiative at Chatham House, joins host Alistair Taylor to discuss the war’s impact on Iraq — from Iran’s militia networks to the surge of attacks on the Kurdistan region — and how it’s reshaping Baghdad’s ties with Tehran and Washington.
Hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj are joined by MEI Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow Amb. (ret.) Robert S. Ford to examine what is at stake for Iraq in the Iran war. The only country to have been hit by both sides, Iraq is caught in the middle of a regional conflict, with the local Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) carrying out attacks on American interests and personnel — and the US responding. This escalation comes at a period of internal political transition in Iraq, which has been locked in negotiations to form a new government since the November 2025 elections. Ford, who served as Deputy and later Acting Ambassador in Baghdad from 2008 until 2010, unpacks how Iraq is navigating the current moment, how the Kurdistan region fits into this equation, and what this all means for the future of US-Iraqi relations.
A senior Iranian official credited the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) for
Tasnim News, an outlet that is affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), has published a rare video footage of its correspondent’s account of Shiite militia operations in Iraq. In what the outlet calls “exclusive” video, the correspondent is seen accompanying fighters from Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Force) in the battle for Mosul against fighters from the Islamic State.
Iranian-state media have been defending Iraj Masjedi, Tehran’s new ambassador to Baghdad. Masjedi is a member of the Qods Force, the external branch of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. Al-Alam, the Iranian-sponsored media outlet that is aimed at the Arabic-speaking world, quoted Iraq’s National Security Advisor, Falih al-Fayyad, to say that Masjedi is welcome in Baghdad and that “he is someone [Iraqis] know and appreciate for his past record in Iraq.”
A senior Iraqi official has said that the Popular Mobilization Force (PMF) will take part in the “liberation” of western Mosul. “The popular mobilization forces in Nineveh Province will participate in the liberation operation of Tal Afar,” Iraqi National Security Advisor Falih al-Fayyad said in an interview with Iranian state-run Al-Alam News Network published on January 23.
A senior Iraqi official has said that Baghdad will welcome Iran’s controversial pick to be its next ambassador to Iraq. Earlier this month, the Iranian media reported that Brigadier General Iraj Masjedi, a senior advisor to Quds Force Commander Qassem Suleimani, will be Iran’s next envoy to Iraq. The news drew criticism from Saudi officials.
In the latest example of Iranian interference in Iraq, a top Iranian general has said that the presence of the Saudi consulate in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, is not “just
The Iranian media reports that a senior Quds Force commander will be appointed Iran’s new ambassador to Baghdad.
On January 12, Iran’s Fars News Agency (FNA) reported that the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) “liberated” three regions in the west of Mosul.
According to FNA, an outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), PMF forces are preparing for the “sixth phase of operations to liberate the west of Nineveh Province.”
Iran’s Oil Ministry has announced that two new energy contracts have been signed with Iraq. In particular, Tehran is looking to export natural gas to Iraq. Energy is only part of the equation.
Ali Shamkhani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), has called Iraqi Shiite militia, the Hashd Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), a “strategic capacity for the future of Iraq.” Shamkhani said this to the visiting former Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. Mailiki in turn thanked Iran for its “support for the Iraqi government and people” and lashed out at Tehran’s regional rivals Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
An Iranian lawmaker defended the presence of the Islamic Republic
Iraqi National Security Advisor Falih al-Fayyad is visiting Moscow for security talks with Russian officials, the Iranian media reports.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has claimed that its engineers are tasked to repair the Mosul Dam, Iraq’s largest dam that generates hydroelectricity and provides water for agricultural irrigation in Nineveh Governorate.
Hailing the IRGC’s scientific capabilities and non-military expertise, General Salar Abnoush, the deputy head of IRGC’s construction conglomerate Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Base, said that the company was busy “repairing cracks in Mosul Dam to prevent the complete inundation of the Iraqi cities of Samarra, Mosul and Kadhimiya.”
On December 20, a senior commander of an Iran-run Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) unit in Iraq said the militia forces were stationed within three kilometers of Tal Afar city and were awaiting for an order from Baghdad to enter the city center.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
