By Erika Solomon, Falih Hassan and Eric Schmitt
Erika Solomon and Falih Hassan reported from Baghdad, and Eric Schmitt from Washington.

Some Iraqis are celebrating the end of an American military presence that unleashed
waves of bloodshed. Others fear what happens next for their country, trapped between
Washington and Tehran.

Rudaw.net

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi and Kurdish leaders on Wednesday said the country’s forces were ready to assume full responsibility for security as the US-led coalition formally ended its military mission in Iraq and American forces completed their departure from Erbil Air Base.

Rudaw.net

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities on Wednesday executed two men convicted over their involvement in January’s nationwide anti-government protests in the northeastern city of Mashhad in Razavi Khorasan province, according to the judiciary.

FT.com | Additional reporting by Abigail Hauslohner

Iraqi Kurdistan’s prime minister tells FT that departure of American troops leaves them vulnerable to Iranian attack

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday presided over the signing of several bilateral agreements in Paris, including on aviation, defense and energy. The ceremony came a day after Zaidi arrived in the French capital for the first leg of a European tour that will also take him to Germany, and just weeks before a deadline at the end of September for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq.

It is with profound sadness that we announce the death of Mehdi Zana, former mayor of Diyarbakir and a leading figure of the Kurdish democratic resistance in Turkey, who passed away on 29 August 2026 in a hospital in Diyarbakir at the age of 86.

His funeral took place at Yeniköy Cemetery in Diyarbakir on 30 August 2026.

Rudaw.net

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - For more than two decades, Mehdi Tavakoli used his camera to document Kurdish life, culture, and hardship. He photographed refugees fleeing the Islamic State (ISIS), mentored hundreds of aspiring photographers, organized cultural events, and repeatedly found himself in the crosshairs of Iranian authorities for his civil activism.

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), an umbrella group of Iran-aligned armed factions, on Wednesday gave Baghdad a nine-day ultimatum to take "action," while vowing a response to the US-Saudi strike on Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) bases that resulted in dozens of casualties.

Nytimes.com | By Leily Nikounazar and Sanjana Varghese

Human rights activists say the Iranian government has been rapidly escalating executions. The latest prompted public protest, videos appear to show.