The International Correspondent

07/17/2026

Why did Trump warmly receive Iraq's new prime minister despite his ties to the Coordination Framework and Iran?

My argument: Trump isn't betting on Iraq. He's betting on the mercenariness of Iraq's political elite.

The wager is that Iraqi politicians ultimately value wealth, power, and access to global markets more than permanent loyalty to Tehran.

If that's true, Washington may have found a more realistic strategy than two decades of trying to remake Iraq.

My latest article: "Trump Is Betting on the Mercenariness of Iraqi Politicians."

The White House is testing whether Iraq’s Iran-linked political establishment can be persuaded to serve Baghdad instead of Tehran. Time will tell whether its mercenary elite can be won over.

07/13/2026

Since the beginning of the U.S.-Israel-Iran war, I have tried to approach the conflict differently from many of the voices dominating social media, television panels, and political debates. Rather than begin with the outcome I wanted, I tried to stay loyal to the facts, even when they were unpopular or inconvenient.

My work is rooted in the belief that the region can become freer and more open. But meaningful change begins with an honest assessment of reality as it is—not as we hope it will be.

07/10/2026

The Woman Iran Could Not Break

Mahvash Sabet spent a decade in Iran's prisons because she is a Baháʼí. Her memoir offers a rare firsthand account of faith, survival, and the Islamic Republic's persecution of a religious minority.

07/09/2026

Iran’s Qur’anic Power Play at Khamenei’s Funeral

Whether deliberate or not, the ceremony left countries across the Middle East debating what Tehran was trying to tell them.

07/09/2026

The World Has Failed the Uyghurs

If the global community can’t stop China’s atrocities against the Uyghurs, it must help us keep our culture alive in exile.

05/25/2026

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/explosions-heard-iran-cause-unknown-iranian-media-reports-2026-05-25/

War continues?

Explosions ‌were heard in Iran's Bandar Abbas city and coastal areas near ​the Strait of Hormuz, ​Iranian media reported on Monday, ⁠adding that the cause was ​unknown.

05/21/2026

Many of you have been asking me what’s really going on with the latest attacks from Iraq targeting Saudi Arabia and the UAE. To understand this, we need to start with a little history.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, established in 1979, is not just a country. it is also an ideological project. Since its founding, Iran has worked to build what later became known as the “Axis of Resistance.”

The proposed goals of the Axis are three things:

1. Wipe out Israel.
2. Destroy American interests in the Middle East.
3. Establish Iran as the new leader of the region.

At the time, Iraq was ruled by Saddam Hussein, who launched an eight year war against Iran. Hundreds of thousands died on both sides, but the war ultimately failed to stop the spread of the Iranian revolutionary project.

Then came 2003.

The United States removed Saddam Hussein, which also removed the main barrier preventing Iranian influence from expanding deeply into Iraq and was extremely brutal against anyone who stands in his way killing tens of thousands if not more.

The political parties and militias supported by Iran since 1979 gradually became the dominant power in Iraq. These forces eventually formed what is now called the “Coordination Framework” the coalition of Shiite Islamist parties aligned with Tehran.

Over the last decade, these groups have effectively controlled the selection of Iraq’s prime ministers and shaped the state around preserving the Iranian Iraqi alliance.

After the U.S. withdrawal, Iraq increasingly became integrated into the Axis of Resistance. Both the Bush and Obama administrations believed that supporting the Iraqi government would help stabilize the country and limit Iranian expansion. Instead, the opposite happened.

Today, Iraq functions less as an independent state and more as an Iranian client state.

This is the context behind the attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE maintain strong relationships with the West, especially the United States. Pressure through regional escalation is designed to influence those relationships and discourage continued confrontation with Iran and its allies.

The Iraqi government publicly claims it does not control the militias responsible for these attacks.

But these militias receive salaries, legitimacy, and institutional cover from the Iraqi state itself. In practice, the distinction is meaningless.

The Iraqi government’s role today is often to maintain just enough international legitimacy to keep financial systems open while militias and networks tied to Iran operate through the state structure itself.

This is why Iraq cannot be viewed separately from Iran in strategic terms. The conversation is not truly about Iraq as an independent actor.

it is about Iran’s regional project, with Iraq serving as one of its primary vehicles specially after the fall of Assad in Syria and the weakening of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

That is the reality many in the region are now.

05/11/2026

The Longest Internet Shutdown in Human History

Since January, repeated and sustained disruptions have reduced Iran’s connectivity to a fraction of normal levels, leaving millions technically online but unable to communicate beyond national borders

04/15/2026

Going live on Substack in 5 minutes to talk about the Iran war.
Joining me is Iram Ramzan, British journalist and contributor to Middle East Uncovered, someone who has been consistently sharp (and unafraid) in calling out the nonsense whenever she finds it.

We’ll try to cut through the noise, the propaganda, and the wishful thinking and talk about what’s actually happening, what people are getting wrong, and what might come next.

If you’ve been confused, frustrated, or just trying to make sense of this war, join us live.

Link coming shortly.

04/09/2026

Every year, I come back to the day that defined my life, my family, my friends, and 40 million Iraqis: the Iraq War.

Today marks the anniversary of the fall of Baghdad (where I am from).

I write this from the United States, and each year I try to revisit my own thinking. I try to evolve. I try to change my mind where needed. I try to listen to new evidence in a world that often punishes freedom of thought and mistakes growth for inconsistency.

The question I get asked the most is simple: What do you think about the Iraq War?

One day, I may write a book about it. But here is where I stand today, in 2026.

Regardless of what anyone thinks about Saddam Hussein, and there will always be arguments about that, history is not just about choosing between good and bad, but often between bad and worse.

What became painfully clear after 2003 was not just the fall of a regime, but the absence of something deeper: a cohesive national identity.

When that regime fell, what surfaced was a fragmented Iraq. Identities that had been suppressed did not transform into a shared national project. Instead, many turned inward toward sect, religion, and ethnicity. Politicians emerged who represented these divisions, not a unified Iraq.

That fracture led to civil war. It opened the door for Iraq to be deeply influenced, if not overtaken, by another state: Iran.

The result is a country that has struggled for years to function as a true sovereign nation.

Was this the intention of the United States? I do not know. And I suspect we may never fully know.
But after living here, after reading some of the architects of that war, I can say this: they should feel a deep sense of responsibility, if not shame.

Some of them are still alive today and they are regular "commentators" on US television pretending to be experts.

They should be ashamed for the lack of understanding. For the lack of expertise. For the failure to anticipate the consequences that Iraqis are still living with decades later.

And yet, despite all of this, I still hold on to something.

I hope one day it will have been worth it.
Because I know many Iraqis, who are still fighting for that idea of a country. A real one. A united one. One that rises above sectarianism and external control.

That fight deserves support. And it deserves not to be forgotten.