The U.S. State Department announced sanctions on Thursday against a support network for Iranian armed forces and Tehran-backed militias in Iraq. The designation falls on eight people and entities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its elite Quds Force, along with the Kata’ib Hezbollah and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq militias in Iran (Read more at JNS).
Exxon Mobil signed an agreement with Iraq on Wednesday to help it develop its large Majnoon oilfield and expand its oil export infrastructure, marking a return to the country two years after leaving (Read more at Yahoo Finance).
The Pentagon recommitted itself in a statement on Tuesday to scaling back its military mission in Iraq, a process that a U.S. official said will see Baghdad command efforts to combat remnants of Islamic State inside its own country. Under the plan, the U.S. and its coalition allies would instead focus on combating Islamic State remnants in Syria and shift most of their personnel to Iraq’s Kurdistan region to carry out that mission (Read more at DD News).
Baghdad sought Washington’s approval for months to let it import roughly 5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Turkmen gas via Iran. Baghdad also offered to allow a third-party international monitor to oversee the deal’s compliance with US sanctions and anti-money laundering rules. But despite months of lobbying, US objections ultimately scuppered the deal as Washington ramps up pressure on Iran over its nuclear plans (Read more at Arabnews).
Iraq, long characterized as a theater of regional and international competition, is rapidly evolving into a strategic epicenter for Western policy in the Middle East. The current administration in Baghdad is asserting a form of conditional sovereignty, balancing complex relationships with regional powers while simultaneously deepening security and economic ties with the US, China, and European partners (Read more at Arabnews).
The US confirmed to The National a change in the status of its military mission in Iraq, which it said was transitioning to a bilateral security partnership. The move comes ahead of next month's scheduled withdrawal from certain areas in the country. Iraq and the US announced an agreement in September last year, under which the mission of the US-led coalition against ISIS will end by next month, with the remainder of American forces in he country to depart by the end of 2026 (Read more at The National).
The US State Department specifically named Iran, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel in its alerts, urging Americans in certain areas to shelter in place and in some cases leave immediately (Read more at MSN).
Accusing US President Donald Trump of having “authorised” the major Israeli attack on Iran on Friday, Iraqi group Kataeb Hezbollah said in a statement that “the American forces in Iraq have enabled this aggression by opening the Iraqi airspace to Zionist aircraft.” To stop Iraq from becoming “a battlefield,” Kataeb Hezbollah said that the government in Baghdad “must urgently remove these hostile foreign forces from the country in order to avoid additional wars in the region.” (Read more at Defense Post)
“The State Department regularly reviews American personnel abroad and this decision was made as a result of a recent review,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Reuters when asked about reports of the partial evacuations, without giving further details. A White House official said U.S. President Donald Trump was aware of the move. The partial evacuations come at a moment of heightened tensions in a region already aflame after 18 months of war in Gaza that has raised fears of a wider conflagration pitting the U.S. and Israel against Iran and its allies (Read more at CNBC).
In the course of supporting six operations in the ongoing campaign, five in Iraq and one in Syria, the US military reported two IS operatives were killed, two were detained – including an IS leader – and multiple weapons were recovered (Read more at Defense Post).
A panel of experts examine Iraq’s balancing act amid changing US–Iran dynamics: 5 June 2025 — 6:00PM TO 7:00PM By Chatham House (Register here).
The Airbus Caracal was developed as a long-range tactical military helicopter designed for troop transport, casualty evacuation, and combat search and rescue. Iraq has received two H225M Caracal medium-lift helicopters from Airbus as part of a 14-helicopter deal signed last year. The next six units are scheduled to arrive between June and October, with the final batch arriving by early 2026 (Read more at Defense Post).
Omar Abdulsattar Ameen, who was granted refugee status in the US in 2014, denied Iraqi charges that he murdered a police officer as a Daesh operative. Ameen was sent to Rwanda earlier this month according to the US official (Read more at Arabnews).
The move to defuse tensions follows repeated warnings issued privately by US officials to the Iraqi government since Trump took power in January, according to the sources who include six local commanders of four major militias (Read more at Business Standard).
US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler traveled to Iraq last month to push for the release of Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was kidnapped in Iraq nearly two years ago, three sources familiar with the matter said. Since taking office, Boehler has stepped up efforts to secure the release of Tsurkov, a Princeton University student who went missing in Iraq during a research trip in March 2023, publicly urging the Iraqi government to help her get home (Read more at Arabnews).
The program was created after the OHCHR urged a legislative and investigative approach into Iraq’s large quantity of missing persons. The OHCHR attributes the disproportionate number to torture and forced disappearances during the prior Ba’athist regime, the US invasion of Iraq, and ISIS activity within the country (Read more at Jurist News).
A training (inert) Spike missile was used for the first time with the aircraft flown by a conventional army unit. The Spike offers over four times the range of the Hellfire missile at 32 kilometers (20 miles). Its seeker and wireless data link provide the operator with real-time video imagery and man-in-the-loop control throughout flight, with mid-flight retargeting and mission-abort (Read more at Defense Post).
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is piling pressure on Iraq to allow Kurdish oil exports to restart or face sanctions alongside Iran. A speedy resumption of exports from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region would help to offset a potential fall in Iranian oil exports, which Washington has pledged to cut to zero as part of Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran (Read more at AOL).
Iraq's central bank will ban five more local banks from engaging in U.S. dollar transactions, a move that comes after meetings with U.S. Treasury officials in efforts to combat money laundering, dollar smuggling and other violations (Read more at Market Screener).
Judicial sources and lawmakers confirmed that those convicted of attacks against American forces in Iraq could benefit from the law. Sunni blocs in the Iraqi parliament have been pushing for the law (Read more at Arabnews).
It led to the death of a non-U.S. coalition soldier and wounded two other non-U.S. personnel. U.S. officials have said Islamic State is hoping to stage a comeback in Syria following the fall in December of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (Read more at Reuters).
The US military convoy, including 50 trucks carrying armored vehicles, military equipment, and logistics, is on its way to one of the US military bases in the east and north of Syria through the Al-Waleed border crossing (Read more at News.AZ).
The Federal Aviation Administration is extending the prohibition against flying below certain altitudes through October 2027 citing risks from Iranian-aligned militia groups' activities and third-party military operations. The restrictions also apply to foreign operators operating as code share flights for US carriers. Last month, the US Transportation Department fined Air Canada $250,000 for operating flights in 2022 and 2023 in prohibited Iraqi airspace (Read more at NDTV).
"The Victory Base at Baghdad Airport was targeted with three rockets, two of which were shot down by the base's special defences, while the third fell near the headquarters of the Counter Terrorism Service Command," a security source said. A second security source said there were no casualties and that the incident had not affected air traffic (Read more at Barrons).
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) determined that Air Canada had violated regulations by flying over Iraq, an airspace prohibited due to the risk of military conflict. This violation led to a fine of 338,000 dollars to the company (Read more at Flywest)
The US and Iraq have agreed “on a two phase transition plan for operations in Iraq,” the official said. “In the first phase, we’ll be concluding the global coalition’s military mission in Iraq, the Combined Joint Task Force Inherent Resolve, and ending the presence of coalition forces in certain locations in Iraq as mutually determined.” That phase will begin this month and finish by the end of September 2025. The second phase involves an “understanding to allow the coalition to continue to support counter-ISIS operations in Syria from Iraq … until at least September 2026,” the official said (Read more at Breaking Defense).
US Central Command said that 14 ISIS operatives, among them four major figures in the group, had been killed as part of a joint raid in western Iraq on August 29. As part of the continuing post-raid assessment, Centcom can confirm that four ISIS leaders were killed. There were no civilian casualties, Centcom added (Read more at The National).
Kataib Hezbollah, one of Iraq’s armed factions, said the timing of the attack was clearly designed to disrupt a visit to Iraq by Iranian President. The group called on Iraqi security forces to investigate the attack and to determine who is responsible (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
The United States and Iraq have reached an understanding on plans for the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces from Iraq. The U.S. and Iraq are also seeking to establish a new advisory relationship that could see some U.S. troops remain in Iraq after the drawdown (Read more at USNews).
Also, seven US troops injured during a joint US-Iraq raid in western Iraq. The operation comes as Baghdad and Washington have been engaged in months of talks over the presence of anti-jihadist coalition forces in Iraq (Read more at France24).
Iraq seeks U.S. investment in gas as new projects target energy independence. The move is part of Baghdad's efforts to attract U.S. investment into its energy sector, following previous licensing rounds where Chinese firms secured the majority of available fields (Read more at Reuters).
Writing from America, I can tell you that the US military presence in Iraq rarely makes headlines. Furthermore, there has been no meaningful debate about America’s presence in Iraq during the US presidential campaign. With all the factors in mind, it’s clear that a US withdrawal from Iraq in a realistic timeframe will not occur soon. It is in the interest of both sides that the US-Iraq military relationship evolves into a more traditional security partnership (Read more at Arabnews).
Baghdad has officially signed a procurement contract with France. The purchase is for an air force fleet that covers all Iraqi operational zones as the country sets its sights on increasing its aerial power. Formerly known as the Eurocopter EC725 Caracal, the H225M is designed to enable military forces to deploy “wherever and whenever needed.” Apart from tactical transport, the helicopter can support special operations, combat search and rescue, and medical evacuation (Read more at Defense Post).
One drone was shot down outside the base by defence systems, and the second exploded inside the base without causing any injuries or damage. A senior security official in Baghdad confirmed Tuesday’s attack, saying he believed it was meant to “embarrass” the Iraqi government and pressure the ongoing talks on the future of the international coalition in Iraq (Read more at Defense Post).
It followed another attack over the weekend in which rockets were fired from northern Iraq at a base in Syria that houses forces from the US-led coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group (Read more at Defense Post).
The denial came hours after a post circulated on Telegram messaging app groups thought to be affiliated with the armed faction that declared a resumption in the attacks some three months after they were suspended. Yesterday, at least five rockets were launched from Iraq's town of Zummar towards a U.S. military base in northeastern Syria. The attack against U.S. forces is the first since early February when groups in Iraq stopped their attacks against U.S. troops (Read more at YahooNews).
The issue is expected to lead the discussions in upcoming visit of Iraqi Prime Minister to Washington. Unlike hardline Shiite militias, security officials and some politicians have voiced concern that Iraq can’t afford a complete and abrupt withdrawal of US troops from the country, even though there is a feeling today that their presence at this time causes more problems than solutions (Read more at The National).
US drone activity spans Baghdad, as well as provinces like Anbar, Nineveh, Erbil, and northern Babylon, despite a temporary cessation of attacks by Iraqi armed factions. the continued US drone operations pose a challenge to the Iraqi government's efforts to ease tensions with armed factions (Read more at NewArab).
According to observers, Barzani’s visit marks a shift in the Biden administration’s policy and a desire to push for a more active US engagement with Erbil. The United States is hoping to transform Kurdistan into a major centre of gravity for American influence in Iraq, where the government is working to end the mission of US-led forces there (Read more at The Arab Weekly).
The commander, Esmail Qaani, met representatives of several of the armed groups in Baghdad airport less than 48 hours after Washington blamed the groups for the killing of three U.S. soldiers at the Tower 22 outpost in Jordan. Qaani, whose predecessor was killed by a U.S. drone near the same airport four years ago, told the factions that drawing American blood risked a heavy U.S. response, 10 of the sources said. Since Feb. 4 there have been no attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria (Read more at Reuters).
Baghdad and Washington have held at least two rounds of talks since late last month to end the mission in Iraq of the US-led international coalition formed in 2014 to fight ISIS. The US has 2,500 troops in Iraq and a US withdrawal would probably increase concern in Washington about the influence of Iran over Iraq's ruling elite (Link).
