Iraq Report

While the prime minister emerged unscathed, the attack itself has been viewed as a deadly message designed to re-establish Shia militia dominance after they were trounced in elections.

The Islamic State has attacked a number of Iraqi military and security positions, as well as targeting Shia civilians in the eastern Diyala governorate, triggering extrajudicial and retaliatory killings by Shia militias aligned with the government.

It is already clear that Iraqi politics is suffering from a serious crisis of legitimacy and a failure to act soon may mean that democracy – such as it ever was – may lose the ability to be resuscitated and reformed at all.

Rather than democratic change, since the US invasion in 2003 Iraqis have complained of a sectarian, corrupt, and nepotistic political system that has brought little positive change to their lives.

Whilst the main protagonists of the Iran-Iraq War have long departed, the seeds sowed by the conflict continue to have rippling effects for the region today. With Iranian soft power at unprecedented levels, what will the future hold for Iraq?

As Iraqis prepare to vote, the prime minister has proposed new legislation and signed last-minute international agreements - but will this sway the public?

The Baghdad summit may represent a start in creating a framework for regional de-escalation, but Iraqi elites have shown little progress in ameliorating domestic woes.

An Iraqi minister is mired in scandal after allegedly expelling 91 families from a village north of Baghdad as part of a family dispute, as Prime Minister Kadhimi tries to boost his own reputation by hosting a regional summit.

The invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990 was a quick victory for Saddam Hussein, with devastating long-term consequences for Iraq.

Iraq has suffered its second deadly hospital blaze in three months, exposing a failing health and safety system; all the while, Iran and the US continue to engage in proxy warfare, using Iraq as their arena.