BEIRUT — Mosul is back in the Iraqi government’s hands and the war against the Islamic State seems to finally be approaching its end. This is the good news. But one of the byproducts of the campaign is that Iran’s reach now extends even deeper throughout Iraq and seems unlikely to go away any time soon. A crucial fighting force in the battle for Mosul and other areas liberated from the Islamic State was provided by paramilitary groups that receive…

Encouraging signals emanating from Iraq these days are guiding toward a just path after the leader of the Supreme Islamic Council, Ammar Al Hakim, has relinquished his seat at the council to form the National ‘Hikma’ Party. Also a visit by the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr to Saudi Arabia on Monday shows that Iraqi Shiite leaders and political thinkers are looking for alternatives to the Iranian monopoly. This was not Al-Sadr’s first visit to Saudi Arabia. The…

Background Parts of Iraq, which is historically one of the most productive agricultural regions of the Middle East, lie fallow. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, about eight million hectares of Iraqi land is cultivable, however, in recent years less than half of this land has been utilised. Due to conflict, displacement and lower access to food at least 3.2 million Iraqis are food insecure. A focus on rebuilding the agricultural industry will help to reduce food insecurity, create employment…

The Mosul offensive has come to an end. The Islamic State has been militarily defeated and its remnants destroyed within the city. This is a victory for the state of Iraq. A new nation, remade after the evil of Ba'athism was removed from power, it has faced down a grave threat, and given much in a struggle against an existential enemy of the free world. But this victory has been marred – and will continue to be diminished – by…

MOSUL, Iraq -- For one Iraqi lieutenant, the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Mosul has been a slow, methodical quest for revenge. For three years, he has hunted for two ISIS militants from his village who he believes killed his father. Along the way, he has shot to death detained militants after interrogating them, he acknowledges unapologetically. And if he catches either of the men he is searching for, the lieutenant vows he will inflict on him…

With the recapturing of Mosul, the rein of ISIS in northern Iraq is coming to an end. This, however, can lead to the reemergence of a far more dangerous threat for the future of this fledgling democracy. Iran and its destructive meddling Mesopotamia has devastated this entire nation, leaving at least tens of thousands killed, scores more wounded, injured and displaced. Tehran has continuously targeted the Sunni community in Iraq and taken advantage of the war against ISIS to change…

The fight to eject the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from Mosul — the terror group’s last stronghold in Iraq — has demonstrated that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s government can be a proven counterterrorism partner in rolling back ISIS gains. Beyond this immediate goal, the Trump administration must turn its attention to three key governance issues that will determine Baghdad’s future beginning the day after it reclaimed Iraq’s second largest city: Stanching Iranian influence at the highest levels of government; Restraining powerful…

BAGHDAD — Walk into almost any market in Iraq and the shelves are filled with goods from Iran — milk, yogurt, chicken. Turn on the television and channel after channel broadcasts programs sympathetic to Iran. A new building goes up? It is likely that the cement and bricks came from Iran. And when bored young Iraqi men take pills to get high, the illicit drugs are likely to have been smuggled across the porous Iranian border. And that’s not even the half of it.…

Iraq and the international community must avoid the mistakes of the past The Iraqi Security Forces are to be congratulated for the liberation of Mosul. It has come at a high cost. In the nine-month battle to liberate the city, around 1,000 Iraqi soldiers – the majority from the special forces – have lost their lives, half the city’s population has been displaced, historical sites have been destroyed and the infrastructure devastated.  The immediate challenge is to restore basic services such…

MOSUL, Iraq — The fighting is all but over in Mosul, and the billboards are already up: hastily raised signs in which the government urged the city’s Sunni residents to “turn the page” from the terrorists of the Islamic State. As Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited Mosul to declare victory and call for unity, civilians on the longer-secured east side of the city danced and waved Iraqi flags. Some called for brotherhood between Sunnis and Shiites, or chanted, “By our souls and…