Iraq’s ban on Iranian flights has spiraled into a sovereignty clash, exposing Baghdad’s precarious balancing act between U.S. sanctions and Tehran’s influence

The choice of Iraqi Shiite leader Hammam Hamoudi as a “link” between Iran and Iraq was no passing development, given that he belongs to a generation of Shiite leaders whose political and organizational careers were shaped in Iran before they returned to Baghdad after Saddam Hussein’s regime fell in 2003.

Saudi intelligence chief Khalid al-Humaidan’s Baghdad visit renewed ties with Iraq while raising questions over the absence of a Saudi apology, Iraqi condemnation of the strikes, and Iraq’s role in emerging regional security arrangements.

The August 3, 2026, visit by Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, to Damascus and his meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa was more than a protocolary stop in the effort to rebuild ties between the two sides.

For the first time since 2003, the Iraqi government has publicly acknowledged a "serious" financial shortfall that disrupted salary payments for public sector employees in July 2026.