Topic: Najaf

Questions grow over Iran's influence in Iraq

As Tariq al-Hashemi's death sentence heightens sectarian tensions in Iraq, Shiite Iran's role there is getting more attention, including a potential clerical succession struggle in Najaf.

Iran nuclear talks a 'complete failure,' says Iranian diplomat

Both sides spoke of 'some common ground' that will drive the next round of Iran nuclear talks set for mid-June in Moscow. Yet a chasm of mismatched expectations widened in Baghdad.

Iraqi community perplexed, wary after slaying of Iraqi-born mother

Officials are cautioning residents in El Cajon, Calif., against jumping to conclusions while the death of Shaima al-Awadi, an Iraqi immigrant, is investigated. She died after a brutal beating last week in her home. Police have not ruled out a hate crime.

Global News Blog At work in Iraq with Anthony Shadid

Naseer Mehdawi, Anthony Shadid's closest Iraqi friend and journalism colleague, recalls their friendship and how together they told the story of Iraq.

Iran's bid for power in postwar Iraq

As Iraqi Prime Minister Nour al-Maliki meets President Obama in Washington, Tehran is trying to broaden its influence in Iraq by installing a heavy-hitting cleric there.
12/12/2011 11:50 am

Editor's Blog After Iraq: What will history say?

As the last US forces leave, we see the eight-year intervention in Iraq only as a sketchy outline. WIth time, a clearer picture will emerge -- and a softer memory may descend.
12/10/2011 12:45 pm

Backchannels Surging Iraq violence: Have we seen this story before?

Violence across Iraq yesterday was horrific, and likely carried out by Sunni Arab militants. It all feels so 2004.
08/16/2011 12:10 pm

Backchannels What the attacks in Iraq tell us [VIDEO]

Iraq's sectarian divisions are deep, militants both Sunni and Shiite still roam the landscape, and the US is no longer in a position to do much about it.
08/15/2011 02:59 pm

Opinion US interests in Iraq: Like a good neighbor, Turkey is there

Whether US troops stay in Iraq beyond the end of year or not, the US must foster the relationship between Iraq and Turkey. Ankara is the perfect counter to competing Saudi and Iranian influence.
07/13/2011 12:41 pm

Global Viewpoint Libya vs. Bahrain: danger of the West's double standard

The hypocrisy of the West's intervention on behalf of Libyan rebels in the face of its implicit endorsement of the repressive leadership in Yemen and Bahrain is stark. For the sake of Arab freedom and its own interests, the West must take sides against the Saudi-led counter-revolution.
03/31/2011 02:02 pm

Iraqis stage 'day of regret' one year after celebrated elections

Iraq's coalition government has yet to fulfill Iraqi hopes and is on increasingly shaky ground. Iyad Allawi pulled out of a powersharing deal this weekend.
03/07/2011 11:01 am

Backchannels What Arbain in Iraq is like

A story on the 'Iraqi block party on steroids' from our archives.
01/24/2011 10:09 am

Backchannels Karbala and the surge of Iraq attacks

Suicide attacks on Shiite pilgrims. Mass murders of police. It's not 2006 in Iraq anymore, but sometimes it feels like it.
01/20/2011 01:40 pm

Attacks on US forces still an option, says Muqtada al-Sadr upon return to Iraq

In his first public address in Iraq since leaving the country almost four years ago, fiery Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr this weekend led thousands of followers in chants of 'No to America.'
01/10/2011 11:57 am

Photos of the Day Photos of the Day 01/06

Iraq's divided leaders meet for the first time since March elections

Iraq's leaders met to try to break a political deadlock that has left Iraqis vulnerable to escalating violence, including two car bombings today.
11/08/2010 02:37 pm

In Pictures Wikileaks and the war in Iraq

Top UN official survives bomb blast after meeting Iraq's Sistani

Ad Melkert, the top UN official in Iraq, was unhurt after a roadside bomb following a meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. An Iraqi policeman was killed in the blast.
10/19/2010 03:48 pm

Iran's supreme leader meets Maliki, heralds a post-US era in Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is struggling to form a new Iraqi government, visited Iran today as part of a tour that highlights regional influence in Iraq.
10/18/2010 02:19 pm

Centuries-old ties anchor Ahmadinejad tour of south Lebanon

The Lebanese villages Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is visiting today were once home to Shiite scholars who shaped Iran's emergence as a Shiite nation.
10/14/2010 10:43 am

Iraq road map: the new US ambassador explains hurdles

Iraq's new US ambassador has been welcomed by Iraqi political leaders, who criticized his predecessor for not being actively engaged in the political process.
08/27/2010 03:46 pm

Opinion Passing of Shiite cleric Fadlallah spells trouble for Lebanon

The death of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah paves the way for a more militant, Iranian-influenced strain of Islamic ideology to gain ground in Lebanon.
07/09/2010 01:28 pm

As US troops leave, Iraq inches toward a new government

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met Tuesday with Ayad Allawi to discuss forming a new government and decide who will be prime minister. But the main Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish factions are still negotiating.
06/30/2010 02:10 pm

Iraq through the eyes of a tree healer

Jawad Kadhim is a third-generation date-palm tree doctor, one of a dwindling number in Iraq's capital. His job offers a unique window on how the sectarian violence has changed behavior in the various neighborhoods of Baghdad.
06/24/2010 11:02 am

Every Man in This Village Is a Liar

Journalist Megan K. Stack peers into the lives of ordinary Middle Easterners caught between despotic rulers, the dream of freedom, and American foreign policy.
06/23/2010 10:25 am