Ali Saray

Ali Saray
Arab World A flag of Iraq's pro-Iran paramilitary group Hezbollah Brigades (Kataib Hezbollah), flutters against the backdrop of people taking a swing ride at an amusement park during Eid al-Fitr celebrations, marking the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Baghdad on March 21, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

Baghdad: An Intelligence Battleground in Iran’s Latest War

Within days of the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, Quds Force officers began arriving in Iraq to oversee “attrition operations” and establish a support…

Ali Saray (London)
Features Iraqi security personnel stand beside the coffin of a Popular Mobilization Forces member killed in an attack in al-Qaim district (AFP)

Askari, Iran Revolutionary Guards’ Shadow Envoy in Baghdad

Abu Ali al-Askari, whose death was recently announced by Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah, may not have been a single man, but a full diplomatic apparatus representing…

Ali Saray (London)
Arab World A photo released by the Popular Mobilization Forces showing its fighters in the town of Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad, in 2014

Death of Iraqi ‘Oil King’ Exposes ‘Jurf al-Sakhar Empire’

A mysterious assassination of a faction leader in Iraq has exposed details of a lucrative oil trade run by what officials and local sources describe as the …

Ali Saray (Erbil)
Arab World Demonstrators run amid tear gas as supporters of Iraqi Shiite armed groups attempt to move toward the US embassy located in Baghdad's Green Zone following the Israel and US strikes on Iran and the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 1, 2026. (Reuters)

‘Tactical Calm’ May Precede Long War in Iraq

The violent protests that erupted in Iraq among supporters of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei against US interests subsided on Monday. It appears…

Ali Saray (Baghdad)
Interviews Iraqi Justice Minister Khaled Shwani

Iraqi Justice Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: ISIS Prisoners Held at a Fortified Site, Escape Impossible

Iraqi Justice Minister Khaled Shwani told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iraq will not repatriate foreign prisoners affiliated with ISIS to their home countries if their…

Ali Saray (Baghdad)
Arab World Members of the Coordination Framework hold a meeting. (Iraqi News Agency)

Maliki Can Withdraw as Candidacy as Iraq PM the Easy or Hard Way

Iraqi Former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declined at the last minute to attend a meeting of the pro-Iran Coordination Framework on Monday night that was…

Ali Saray (London)
World Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (AP)

US Blocks Maliki Bid, Sends Sharp Warning to Iran

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s bid to return to power has stalled abruptly after the US delivered blunt warnings against the formation of a…

Ali Saray (London)
Features An Iraqi man carrying the Iranian flag passes in front of security forces outside the Iranian embassy in Baghdad during a demonstration to show solidarity against US threats (DPA). 

Possible ‘Emergency Exit’ for Iraqi Factions, But Not for Everyone

Since protests erupted in Iran, political elites in Iraq have quietly debated whether the “Islamic Revolution” in Tehran might be nearing a rapid collapse. Yet…

Ali Saray (London)