Iraq’s bounty risks bitter taste
After US-led mission helped to largely banish Islamic State from Iraq in 2018, the country has fast become a battleground for power in the region
Growing oil production should be a major win for oil-weary Iraq. But the country's increasingly lucrative share of global crude output has served to sharpen the appetites of Iran, the US, and other Middle Eastern neighbours to keep or extend a foothold in Iraq, seeing potential both for further oil production increments and strategic importance in a territory that has long borders with Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey. Iraq has long been in an uncomfortable position straddling the diplomatic divide between the US and Iran. With tensions at their highest in years, how Iraq’s position stuck between the two opposing powers plays out in the coming months could have an impact even beyond its
Also in this section
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
3 March 2026
The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in US–Israeli strikes marks the most serious escalation in the region in decades and a bigger potential threat to the oil market than the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis
2 March 2026
A potential blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following the escalating US-Iran conflict risks disrupting Qatari LNG exports that underpin global gas markets, exposing Asia and other markets to sharp price spikes, cargo shortages and renewed reliance on dirtier fuels
