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Iraq-Syria relations

US military vehicles move along a road in a convoy transporting Islamic State group detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on February 7, 2026. (Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
February 7, 2026, 8:19 pm
Over 2,200 ISIS detainees moved from Syria to Iraq in ongoing US operation
US-led initiative launched to ensure ISIS detainees remain in ‘secure detention facilities’ sees inmates transferred from auspices of Kurdish-led forces in Syria to Iraqi jails
By AFP
Syria's interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa meets with a US delegation lead by the new head of the US military's Central Command in the Syrian capital Damascus on September 12, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
September 19, 2025, 9:32 pm
Report: Iraq helped Syria foil attack on Sharaa by ex-members of his rebel group
Fighters who defected from HTS due to disappointment with Syria’s direction under new administration also said to have plotted bombing campaign to ignite sectarian violence
By Nurit Yohanan and ToI Staff
Syrian President Bashar Assad (right) welcomes Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani during a welcome ceremony in Damascus, Syria, July 16, 2023. (SANA via AP)
July 16, 2023, 4:52 pm
Iraqi PM meets Assad in Syria to discuss ties, in first visit in over a decade
Two countries maintained relations even as most Arab League members isolated Damascus over crackdown on 2011 protests
By AP
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R) and his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad hold a press conference in Baghdad on June 4, 2023. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
June 4, 2023, 5:49 pm
Now back in wider Arab fold, Syria’s foreign minister visits diplomatic ally Iraq
Faisal Mekdad and his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein discuss aid in wake of devastating February earthquake, future of displaced Syrians who fled civil war
By AFP
In this photo from August 12, 2019, plumes of smoke rise after an explosion at a military base southwest of Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Loay Hameed)
September 30, 2019, 6:00 pm
Iraqi PM blames Israel for spate of airstrikes targeting Iran-linked fighters
Adel Abdul Mahdi says investigation indicates Jerusalem behind recent strikes on bases, weapon depots belonging to powerful Shiite militias; IDF declines to comment
By ToI Staff
Iraqi and Syrian border guards soldiers congratulate each other during the opening ceremony of the crossing between the Iraqi town of Qaim and Syria's Boukamal in Anbar province, Iraq, September 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
September 30, 2019, 2:21 pm
Iraq-Syria border crossing reopens amid series of reported Israeli strikes
Retaken from Islamic State in 2017, crossing is located near alleged Iranian-controlled compound seen as key to facilitating Iran’s arms shipments
By Agencies and ToI Staff
Illustrative: Iraqi army reinforcements drive down a road, linking Hawija to Kirkuk, near the village of Khabbaz on October 7, 2017. (AFP PHOTO / Marwan IBRAHIM)
July 1, 2018, 6:45 pm
Iraq begins building border fence with Syria to block jihadists
First 20 kilometers of 600-km border reinforced with barbed wire, surveillance towers, trench, thermal cameras and drones
By AFP
This photo provided on Monday, Aug 28, 2017 by the government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media, shows buses gathering before a planned evacuation of Islamic State group militants, in the mountainous region of Qalamoun, Syria. (Syrian Central Military Media, via AP)
August 30, 2017, 8:10 am
Lebanon’s negotiated IS evacuation angers many
Iraqis accuse Syria and Hezbollah of dumping militants on border, Beirut defends transfer as only way to uncover fate of captured soldiers
By Zeina Karam and Sinan Salaheddin
In this Sunday, March 4, 2012 file photo, Syrians hold posters of Syrian President Bashar Assad, far left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, second left, during a pro-Syrian government protest in front of the Russian Embassy in Damascus, Syria. (AP/Muzaffar Salman, File)
September 27, 2015, 12:32 am
Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria pool intelligence on Islamic State
Media in Moscow reports ‘joint information center’ in Baghdad will coordinate operations against jihadist militants
By Tamar Pileggi
In this June 18, 2003 file photo, US soldiers, partly seen at right, prevent former Iraqi soldiers from trying to enter the American headquarters during a deadly demonstration in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano, File)
August 9, 2015, 2:30 am
Islamic State is led by more than 100 of Saddam’s former officers
Iraqi dictator’s ex-generals gave jihadist group the structure and discipline needed to turn ‘from terrorist organization to proto-state’
By Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra
Fighters from the Badr Brigades Shiite militia clash with Islamic State fighters at the front line on the outskirts of Fallujah, Anbar province, Iraq, Monday, June 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
June 2, 2015, 6:00 pm
Iraq calls for more intel from allies against Islamic State
Jihadist group’s gains partly due to its supply of well-trained foreign fighters, says PM Haider al-Abadi
By Lori Hinnant
Protesters chant slogans against Iraq's Shiite-led government in Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, last December (Photo credit: AP)
April 26, 2014, 7:55 pm
Shiite rally bombing sparks reprisals in Iraq
Al-Qaeda breakaway group claims responsibility for multiple bombings that killed at least 33 people
By AP
UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi at a press conference during the Geneva II negotiations at the European headquarters of the UN, in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday, February 13, 2014 (photo credit: AP/Valentin Flauraud)
February 14, 2014, 3:09 pm
Syria talks looking bad
Negotiations on verge of collapse, with UN envoy speaking of ‘a dark tunnel’
By Elhanan Miller
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari meets with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, on Tuesday (photo credit: @EUHighRepSpox via Twitter)
September 26, 2013, 4:44 am
Foreign weapons sent to Syrian rebels worry Iraq
Iraqi FM says military aid could fall into the hands of extremists or terror groups
By Lara Jakes
Illustrative photo of Iraqis inspecting the scene of a car bomb attack in the Ameen neighborhood of eastern Baghdad, Iraq (photo credit: AP/ Khalid Mohammed)
June 12, 2013, 2:21 am
Iraq increasingly drawn into Syrian battlefield
Spike in sectarian killings in Iraq believed to be fed by civil war raging across porous border
By Adam Schreck
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