• This Iran-backed militia helped save Iraq from ISIS. Now Washington wants them to disband

    This Iran-backed militia helped save Iraq from ISIS. Now Washington wants them to disband

    Dec 07, 2017 11:35 PM EDT

    ... not happy. Reza Sayah: It was the threat of ISIS in Iraq that spawned the PMF in 2014. With most U.S. forces gone and Iraqi forces too weak to take on ISIS, the Iraqi government called on Iran for help, and Iraq's highest religious authority, Shia cleric Ayatollah ...

  • Does Iran's deep religious influence in Iraq translate to politics?

    Does Iran's deep religious influence in Iraq translate to politics?

    Dec 06, 2017 11:25 PM EDT

    ... re calling Iran Rising in Iraq. Special correspondent Reza Sayah and videographer Gelareh Kiazand, in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, traveled throughout Iraq to examine the growing influence of its neighbor the Islamic Republic of Iran. Just how far has Iran extended its reach in Iraq? What ...

  • Hundreds killed as powerful earthquake strikes Iran-Iraq border

    Hundreds killed as powerful earthquake strikes Iran-Iraq border

    Nov 13, 2017 02:25 PM EDT

    ... the death toll to 530 with 7,460 injured. The quake hit at 9:18 p.m. local time about 20 miles from the eastern Iraqi city of Halabjah. It left gaping holes in mosques, sheared walls off apartment buildings and cracked parts of Iraq’s Diyala River dam. "Immediately ...

  • Iraqi VP calls Iran-backed militias his nation's top threat

    Iraqi VP calls Iran-backed militias his nation's top threat

    Nov 07, 2017 10:27 PM EDT

    ... officials and congressional leaders, Iraqi Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi is hoping the administration will deliver on pledges to counter Iran's growing influence inside Iraq and across the Middle East. Al-Nujaifi is one of Iraq's three vice presidents, and his brother heads a prominent Iraqi defense faction ...

  • U.S. pushes Saudi Arabia, Iraq on united front to counter Iran

    U.S. pushes Saudi Arabia, Iraq on united front to counter Iran

    Oct 22, 2017 03:01 PM EDT

    ... particularly in Europe, to halt any business they do with Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Speaking after participating in the inaugural meeting of the Saudi Arabia-Iraq Coordination Committee with Saudi King Salman and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Tillerson told reporters that an independent and prosperous Iraq would be ...

  • Iraqi, Kurdish forces in standoff, weeks after Kurdish vote for independence

    Iraqi, Kurdish forces in standoff, weeks after Kurdish vote for independence

    Oct 15, 2017 08:33 PM EDT

    ... HARI SREENIVASAN: The desire of the Kurds along Iraq's northern border to govern themselves is receiving more resistance from Iraq's central government. Iraqi army forces are demanding Kurdish troops withdraw from oil fields and military bases around Kirkuk, a city in the Kurdistan region that voted for ...

  • Mattis in Baghdad to meet with Iraqi leaders, U.S. commanders

    Mattis in Baghdad to meet with Iraqi leaders, U.S. commanders

    Aug 22, 2017 02:09 PM EDT

    BAGHDAD — Islamic State militants, driven from their main stronghold in northern Iraq, are trapped in a military vise that will squeeze them on both sides of the Syria-Iraq border, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said. Mattis arrived in the Iraqi capital Tuesday, hours after President Donald Trump outlined ...

  • U.S. says Iraqi forces ready for next battle against Islamic State extremists

    U.S. says Iraqi forces ready for next battle against Islamic State extremists

    Aug 19, 2017 02:26 PM EDT

    ... extremists after closing out the wrenching nine-month battle to retake the city of Mosul. Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said he sees the Iraqi assault on the IS-held area of Tal Afar "unfolding relatively soon." The upcoming fight follows weeks of Iraq ...

  • Column: Here's what I learned from 3 years reporting in Iraq

    Column: Here's what I learned from 3 years reporting in Iraq

    Aug 17, 2017 06:22 PM EDT

    ... from their homes. From the summer of 2014 until August 2017 I have been frequently traveling to KRG, the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Northern Iraq, to film the perils and struggles of Iraqi families trying to survive after escaping death. About 500,000 people have fled their homes since ...

  • Some Iraqi forces wage campaign of punishment against ISIS fighters, suspected sympathizers

    Some Iraqi forces wage campaign of punishment against ISIS fighters, suspected sympathizers

    Jul 27, 2017 12:11 AM EDT

    ... in order to ensure her own safety. The dust is beginning to settle in Mosul, but revenge can be a dirty game. The battle may have ended, but a new war in Iraq may be just beginning. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Marcia Biggs in and around Mosul, Iraq.