2026 in Iraq

Events of the year 2026 in Iraq.

• President: Abdul Latif Rashid
• Prime Minister: Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani

• 21 January – US Central Command launches an operation to transfer up to 7,000 IS detainees from Syria to Iraq.^[1][2]
• 24 January –
  • The Coordination Framework, which hold a majority in the Council of Representatives, nominates former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki to return to office, which he previously held between 2006 and 2014.^[3]
  • Academics and university staff begin an open ended strike after the Ministry of Finance announces cuts to their salaries.^[4]
• 27 January – 2026 Iraqi presidential election.^[5]

• 6 February – A man detonates an explosive belt while being arrested, killing himself and injuring two security forces members in al-Khaseem, Al-Qa'im District.^[6]
• 9 February – The National Security Service announces the execution of Saadoun Sabri al-Qaisi, a former major general during the Saddam Hussein regime who had been convicted of crimes against humanity including the assassinations of cleric Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister, Amina al-Sadr, in 1980.^[7]
• 22 February – Kuwait summons the Iraqi chargé d'affaires in protest over the submission by Iraq of revised maps and maritime boundaries to the United Nations.^[8]
• 28 February –
  • Iraq closes its airspace after the U.S. and Israel launch an attack on Iran.^[9]
  • At least two airstrikes targeting Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) headquarters in Jurf al-Nasr kills two and injures eight militia members.^[10][11]
  • Erbil International Airport is targeted twice with drone attacks, which were reportedly intercepted.^[11]

• 1 March –
  • Iraq announces three days of mourning after the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iraqis also protest at the Green Zone which houses foreign embassies in Baghdad.^[12]
  • Four PMF members are killed in an unidentified airstrike targeting one of their headquarters in Diyala Governorate.^[13]
  • A US kamikaze drone falls without exploding on a farm in western Iraq.^[14]
• 2 March – The US orders all non-emergency personnel and ‌their families to evacuate Iraq alongside other countries in the region.^[15]
• 3 March –
  • Iraq shuts down production at the Rumaila oil field for lack of storage space as oil exports struggle to exit the Strait of Hormuz.^[16]
  • An unidentified force, suspected to be American or Israeli, is spotted flying helicopters from Syria and landing in the Najaf desert before being intercepted by Iraqi forces, resulting in a shootout that kills one and injures two Iraqi soldiers.^[17]
• 4 March – A nationwide blackout occurs with the Ministry of Electricity saying the power grid has gone down entirely, and that the cause is under investigation.^[18]
• 5 March – Iraqi forces shoot down a drone that attempted to attack the United States Victoria airbase near Baghdad.^[19]
• 6 March –
  • U.S. Air Force helicopters launch air-to-surface missiles at PMF positions near Mosul.^[20]
  • Drones hit a hotel in Erbil.^[21]
• 7 March – The US embassy in Baghdad is targeted by rockets.^[22]
• 9 March – A drone attack damages the UAE's consulate in Erbil.^[23]
• 10 March
  • Four members of the militant group Kata'ib al-Imam Ali are killed in a US airstrike in Dibis District, Kirkuk Governorate.^[24]
  • Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako, the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Patriarch of Baghdad, retires at the age of 76.^[25][26]
• 11 March – Two oil tankers are attacked near Basra, resulting in authorities stopping all oil operations in the port.^[27]
• 12 March –
  • At least 20 people are killed in an airstrike targeting a building of the PMF in Akashat.^[28]
  • The Italian military base in Erbil is struck by a missile, with no casualties of injuries reported.^[29]
  • A French soldier is killed while six others are injured in a drone attack on their base in Mala Qara, Erbil Governorate.^[30]
  • A Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker of the US Air Force crashes in Iraq during refueling operations,^[31] killing all six crew members.^[32]
• 14 March –
  • The US embassy in Baghdad is hit by a missile strike.^[33]
  • The Hungarian Defence Forces announces its withdrawal from its garrison in Erbil airbase due to war.^[34]
• 15 March – Iraqi militia groups use FPV drones to attack a US military base near Baghdad International Airport.^[35]
• 16 March –
  • Three PMF members are injured in an airstrike near the Badush Dam in Mosul.^[36]
  • At least eight Iraqi soldiers and PMF member are killed in a suspected US attack on a checkpoint in Al-Qaim near the Iraq–Syria border.^[37]
• 17 March –
  • The US embassy in Baghdad is targeted with drone attacks, causing a small fire inside the compound.^[37]
  • At least four people are killed in an airstrike on a house in the Al-Jadriya district of Baghdad, reportedly used as a headquarters by the PMF.^[37]
• 18 March – Iraq reaches a deal with Turkey and the Kurdistan Region to resume oil exports through the Kirkuk–Ceyhan Oil Pipeline.^[38]
• 19 March – Two PMF fighters are killed in airstrikes in Nineveh and Saladin Governorates.^[39]
• 20 March –
  • Polish defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announces the withdrawal of Polish forces from Iraq, stationed there as part of the CJTF–OIR joint task force against the Islamic State, citing the regional threat from Iran.^[40]
  • The headquarters of the National Intelligence Service in central Baghdad is targeted in a drone strike killing one police officer.^[41]
• 21 March – The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claims responsibility for targeting 27 American military bases in Iraq and across the region over the past 24 hours.^[42]

Source:^[43]

• 1 January – New Year's Day
• 6 January – Iraqi Army Day
• 18-23 March – Eid al-Fitr^[44]
• 9 April – Liberation Day
• 1 May – Labour Day
• 26–30 May – Eid al-Adha
• 16 June – Islamic New Year
• 25 June – Ashura
• 14 July – Republic Day
• 5 August – Arba'in
• 25 August – Mawlid
• 3 October – National day
• 10 December – Victory Day
• 25 December – Christmas Day

• List of Iraqi submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

• 2 March – Yanar Mohammed, feminist and activist (b.1960)^[45]
• 8 March – Lutfiya al-Dulaimi, writer and journalist. (b.1939)^[46]

• Timeline of Iraq history
• Years in Iraq

• Online calendar