May 20, 2025: The northern city of Mosul has largely eliminated its Islamic terrorist problem. Only a few percent of the population have any sympathy for the terrorists and few if any Islamic terrorists are still operating in or near Mosul. Iranian officials have told Iraq that they will share their nuclear power plant technology with Iraq and help Iraq build its first nuclear power producing operation.

Despite Iran’s continued aggressive attitude towards Israel and the west, they try to maintain good relations with their immediate neighbors. Iran still depends on these countries for trade. This is essential because without that trade the Iranian economy would collapse and the population would go hungry.

Iraq is currently disarming the PKK or Kurdish Workers Party. The leftist rebel group has agreed to disarm and disband. The main complications is Turkey, where the PKK movement began in 1984 as local Kurds sought to establish a Kurdish state out of territory in eastern Turkey, northern Iraq and northwestern Iran. These three nations objected and have been fighting PKK rebels ever since. This new PKK proposal won’t work if Turkey, Iraq and Iran will not go along with it.

For the last twelve years the PKK has based itself in the Qandil Mountains of northeastern Iraq. The PKK has been around for nearly half a century. Starting out as a communist group, PKK mellowed and became more pragmatic over the years. They are still a far-left organization, but willing to make deals to survive. For example, in 2013 PKK declared a ceasefire in its war with Turkey and moved its remaining forces to northeastern Iraq. The ceasefire collapsed in mid-2015 and the Turks have been bombing PKK bases in Iraq ever since. Occasionally Turkish special operations troops would enter Iraq to observe PKK activities and call in airstrikes on PKK bases. Iraq continues to complain to Turkey about the bombings and troop incursions. The Turks ignore it, because the Iraqis will not or cannot control the PKK. Currently Turkey and Iraq are seeking to carry out joint operations against the PKK and Islamic terrorist groups.

Iraq is more interested in being at the center of the revival of Arab unity in the region. Iraq has oil income and common cause with the other Persian Gulf Arab oil states. Historically, Iraq was the center of Arab culture and military power in the region. Since World War II that has been overshadowed by Iran, which was a monarchy until the 1980s when an Iran-Iraq war turned Iran into a religious dictatorship. You can’t negotiate with a religious dictatorship, so Iraq accepted help from anyone who would get involved. That included Israel, which recently carried out punishing airstrikes against Iran. Iraq did not interfere as the Israeli jets flew over Iraq. The enemy of my enemy is my temporary friend.

Last year American and Iraqi forces continued to find and capture or kill groups of Islamic terrorists. In the north Turkey continued bombing bases of Kurdish rebel groups established in remote areas of northern Iraq. Despite the late 2017 declaration that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or ISIL was defeated, the Islamic terror group remains active in northern and Western Iraq. ISIL no longer controls large areas of Iraq but is a problem because of its violence, extortion, and causing disorder in several provinces north of Baghdad. It took four years of effort, several hundred billion dollars to pay for an expanded military, battle damage and economic losses plus over 100,000 Iraqi lives, to kill at least 20,000 Islamic terrorists and eliminate ISIL control of Iraqi territory.

That effort created other problems, and opportunities. Iran offered help and was allowed to organize, train, and often lead in combat over 100,000 Iraqi, largely pro-Iran Shia militiamen in what was and still is the PMF/Popular Mobilization Forces. Most Iraqis, including most Iraqi Shia, who are about 60 percent of the population, feared an Iran inspired coup by early 2018. That never happened.

Senior Shia clerics in Iraq and Iran agreed that the militias should stay out of politics. Iran’s government was not consulted on this decision and a minority of pro-Iran Iraqis still want an Iran style religious dictatorship. National elections in 2021 revealed much less support for Iran, despite increased threats and financial promises Iran could not keep. The 2021 elections were mainly about doing something about widespread corruption and mismanagement of the economy.

The other Arab oil states in the region, all run by Sunnis, offered peace and investment and the new Iraqi government accepted the offer, even if those Arabs were establishing diplomatic, economic, and military relations with Israel. Iran responded with a failed assassination attack on the Iraqi prime minister plus rocket and mortar attacks on the American embassy and the remaining U.S. troops. Most Iraqis want some Americans to stay, more economic activity with Arab neighbors and an end to Iranian meddling in Iraq.