Wheat grows in circular fields irrigated with groundwater near Iraq's central city of Karbala on April 10, 2025. Today, groundwater reservoirs help mitigate agricultural losses caused by drought, an already frequent phenomenon in Iraq that is worsened by a warming planet. (Photo by Mohammed Sawaf/AFP Photo)





A drone view shows buffaloes wading in the waters of Chebayesh marsh in Dhi Qar province, Iraq, on April 18, 2025. Iraq has seen a decline in its buffalo population in the southern marshlands due to worsening water shortages and shrinking grazing areas, according to environmental experts. (Photo by Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters)





Iraqi workers restore the centuries-old shrine of Jewish Rabbi Isaac Gaon in central Baghdad's al-Kifah neighborhood on April 21, 2025. In a vibrant Baghdad district, labourers are working tirelessly to repair the shrine of the revered rabbi in an effort to revive the long-faded heritage of Iraq's Jewish community. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Photo)





A fisherman shows his catch on Iraq's receding marshes of Hawizeh, which straddle the border with Iran, in the southeastern Missan province on April 25, 2025. Plans to drill for oil in the protected Mesopotamian Marshes of southern Iraq have galvanised villagers and activists determined to save the mythical wetlands already battered by years of drought. (Photo by Asaad Niazi/AFP Photo)





Full moon is seen behind a silhouette of a man doing gymnastics in Erbil, Iraq on May 12, 2025. (Photo by Ahsan Mohammed Ahmed Ahmed/Anadolu via Getty Images)





A youth takes a picture of a restored vintage 1940s-period DeSoto automobile parked along a street in Iraq's Alexandria (Iskandariya), south of Baghdad in Babylon province on May 27, 2025. (Photo by Karar Jabbar/AFP Photo)





Shiite worshippers gather at the golden-domed shrine of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim, who died at the end of the eighth century, in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (Photo by Hadi Mizban/AP Photo)





Dancers from the Baghdad Ballet Academy perform during a show at the University of Baghdad in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, May 30, 2025. (Photo by Hadi Mizban/AP Photo)





A view of thousands of dead fish covering the surface of the Ibn Najim marshes in Najaf's Hurriya district, Iraq on June 01, 2025 . The mass die-off, which caused a foul odor and alarm among locals, was attributed to oxygen depletion rather than poisoning, according to initial reports from the Najaf Environment Directorate. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)





A man inspects dead fish during a mass die-off at the Ibn Najm marsh, about 25 kilometres northeast of Najaf in central Iraq on June 1, 2025. (Photo by Qassem Al-Kaabi/AFP Photo)





Livestock are displayed for sale at a market ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival, in Najaf, Iraq on June 4, 2025. (Photo by Alaa al-Marjani/Reuters)





Shiite Muslim clerics shout slogans during a rally held at the Shatt al-Arab seaside promenade in the southern Iraqi city of Basra to protest Israel's strikes on Iran, late on June 18, 2025. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)





A drone view shows supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gathering for Friday prayers during a protest against repeated violations of Iraqi airspace and to denounce attacks on Iran, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Basra, Iraq on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Mohammed Aty/Reuters)





A man inspects his abandoned house, deserted due to a worsening water crisis, on the outskirts of Najaf, Iraq, on June 25, 2025. As Iraq bans summer farming and rice cultivation due to a deepening water crisis, farmers in Najaf are abandoning their lands and livelihoods. (Photo by Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters)





Shiite worshippers gather at the shrine of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim on the eve of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (Photo by Hadi Mizban/AP Photo)





Shiite Muslims take part in a mourning ritual in Iraq's southern city of Basra late on June 26, 2025 on the first night of the Muslim month of Muharram in the lead-up to Ashura. The religious commemoration of Ashura, which includes a ten-day mourning period starting on the first day of Muharram on the Islamic calendar, commemorates the seventh-century slaying of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein in Karbala. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)





Shia Muslims commemorate Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, and his 72 companions who were martyred in the Battle of Karbala, during a mourning ceremony held in Baghdad, Iraq, on July 1, 2025, as part of Muharram observances. Participants joined in reciting elegies and lit torches in honor of the Karbala martyrs. (Photo by Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu via Getty Images)





Shiite Muslims gather for a mourning ritual inside the Republic Mosque in Basra, Iraq on July 2, 2025, to mark the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, and his 72 companions in the Battle of Karbala. As part of the Muharram commemorations, participants recite elegies and beat their chests in a traditional expression of grief. (Photo by Haidar Mohammed Ali/Anadolu via Getty Images)





People gather for the second annual “Cat Beauty Festival” organized by Royal Veterinary Hospital in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq on July 2, 2025. Around 200 cats participated in the event, where the first round was determined by social media votes. The winner, a cat named “Gule Rana”, was selected by a jury. The festival aims to promote animal love and raise awareness about feline care. (Photo by Fariq Faraj Mahmood/Anadolu via Getty Images)





Shiite Muslims take part in a procession on the seventh day of lunar month of Muharram during the mourning period leading up to Ashura in Nasiriyah in Iraq's southern Dhi Qar province early on July 3, 2025. Ashura, a 10-day period commemorating the seventh century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein, also marks death of Imam Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas, the half-brother of Imam Hussein who was killed by the army of the second Umayyad caliph Yazid while trying to bring water to quench the thirst of his besieged family during the battle of Karbala in the year 680. (Photo by Asaad Niazi/AFP Photo)