Victoria J. Taylor
854 posts
@VictoriaT_
Director, Iraq Initiative @ Atlantic Council | Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq/ Iran @ StateDept | National Security Leader on Middle East and Europe
📅 March 26 | 🕙 10:00 a.m. EST 🛢️🇸🇾 Energy development is not only an economic issue — it is a stability issue. What role will energy play in unlocking Syria's recovery? Join us as #ACSyria, in partnership with the @USSyriaBC host a discussion on Syria’s evolving energy landscape featuring @YousefQiblawy, Hunter Hunt, Mohamed Badri, Jay Salkini, @VictoriaT_, moderated by Wa’el Alzayat. 🔗 Register here ⬇️ bit.ly/4b3t2bo
Yes, this administration has gutted Middle East experience at the State Department, but ... ...it doesn't really matter how much/little expertise the current State Department has, because it is totally out of the policy loop. apnews.com/article/iran-s…
Kataib Hezbollah orders a 5-day halt in attacks on the US embassy in Baghdad based on certain conditions. All of them unrealistic, among them that Israel stop displacement in Beirut. The demands seem more like a distraction from the group’s underlying hedging message. 1/2
This is a very flimsy deal between the #US and #Iran-backed groups in #Iraq 👇 But it shows that there is some space for the Iraqi government to play a more active role in restraining them. That said, will they listen to #Baghdad or #Tehran in a regional conflict like this? The answer is obvious. A few observations: 1) This immediately follows US intervention to allow federal #oil exports via #Kurdistan, a move that largely sidelined KRG demands and appeared to empower #Baghdad in the dispute. 2) The US has harshly targeted militia leaders and bases in recent days - is this a response to heavy losses? 3) Holding this fragile detente - if it works - will be a make-or-break challenge for incumbent PM Sudani. It's high risk, because failure could further portray him as weak and empower Maliki within the Shia Framework. But it's also high reward; if he succeeds, his chances at a second term greatly improve. One to watch...
BREAKING 🚨 Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq announced today a conditional 5-day pause in attacks on the US Embassy in Baghdad. The halt is tied to demands that Israel stop its strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs, cease attacks on Iraqi civilian areas, and confine CIA personnel inside the embassy. Any violation will trigger an immediate, direct response per their statement.
Many believed the old rules held: that Iraqi Iran-aligned actors would stay out of the war. But from my January conversations with PMF leaders, it was clear a wider conflict would draw some in. That threshold has now been crossed & the most dangerous scenario is unfolding in Iraq
'Even if [Iraqi] militias are not necessarily attempting to inflict maximum damage...one of these attacks could prove fatal, and you would see the US return to leadership strikes.' @VictoriaT_ on US-Iran escalation in Iraq in our recent #IraqInitiative webinar. Watch in full: facebook.com/watch/live/?re…
مشهد استهداف جديد يطال السفارة الأميركية في بغداد.
رئيس حكومة إقليم كوردستان يتلقى اتصالاً هاتفياً من المبعوث الخاص للرئيس الأمريكي تلقى رئيس حكومة إقليم كوردستان مسرور بارزاني، مساء اليوم الثلاثاء 17 آذار (مارس) 2026، اتصالاً هاتفياً من السفير توم برّاك، المبعوث الخاص للرئيس الأمريكي دونالد ترامب إلى سوريا، والسفير الأمريكي لدى تركيا، حيث جرى التباحث بشأن الأوضاع العامة في إقليم كوردستان والعراق وعموم المنطقة. ونقل السفير برّاك تحيات الرئيس دونالد ترامب إلى رئيس الحكومة، مثمناً عالياً الاستعداد والحرص الذي أبداه رئيس الحكومة للتعاون مع الحكومة الاتحادية في سبيل استئناف تصدير النفط عبر تركيا. من جانبه، أشار رئيس الحكومة إلى أن المباحثات مع الحكومة الاتحادية مستمرة، مؤكداً أنه وجّه الفريق الحكومي لإقليم كوردستان بتقديم جميع التسهيلات اللازمة لاستئناف تصدير النفط، بما يخدم مصلحة المواطنين في خضم هذه الظروف العصيبة. وشدد رئيس الحكومة على أن الإقليم لن يدخر جهداً في القيام بكل ما تقتضيه المصلحة العامة، داعياً الولايات المتحدة إلى مواصلة دورها المراقب والداعم في المفاوضات الجارية بين أربيل وبغداد، ولا سيّما فيما يتعلق بالكمارك والحصار التجاري. وفي ختام الاتصال، أكد الجانبان على أهمية تعزيز التنسيق والتعاون بين إقليم كوردستان والولايات المتحدة، بما يسهم في ترسيخ دعائم الأمن والاستقرار وإحلال السلام في المنطقة.
Four strikes targeted a house in Baghdad’s Jadrjya neighborhood. A number of Iraqi journalists reported that the house is believed to belong to the leader of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Abu Ala al-Walai.
Breaking: U.S embassy is under an ongoing attack by drones
