Based on an analysis of (498) Facebook posts trending on February 18, 2026, Miqrab AI identified several key themes and narratives dominating online discussions in Iraq. The most significant traffic was driven by political statements from the office of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which achieved the highest engagement. The beginning of the holy month of Ramadan was another major topic, with pages sharing photos of the crescent moon, offering greetings, and discussing special television programming. Political intrigue was also prominent, with a high-impact post from MP Mustafa Sanad accusing the prime minister of corruption, alongside widespread discussion of alleged US warnings against the potential appointment of Nouri al-Maliki as the next prime minister. Other key topics included security concerns, such as a drone strike in Sulaymaniyah and rising regional tensions between the US and Iran, as well as social and cultural conversations surrounding new Ramadan TV series.<\/p>\n
The private office of Muqtada al-Sadr was the most impactful source of news, sharing several posts from the cleric’s “X” account. The page The Private Office of His Eminence Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr<\/a> (Post Impact: 100%)<\/strong> published his statement from February 18, followed by another post with a statement from February 19 (Post Impact: 39%)<\/strong>. The same office also invited believers to participate in Ramadan observances at the Fatima al-Zahra Mosque in Najaf (Post Impact: 20%)<\/strong>. In a related story, Saraya al-Salam – Central Media Directorate<\/a> (Post Impact: 14%)<\/strong> showed a delegation representing al-Sadr delivering gifts to Iraqi Army and border guards on the Syrian border. Additionally, politician Hakim al-Zamili<\/a> (Post Impact: 14%)<\/strong> shared a post thanking al-Sadr for a recent honor bestowed upon him.<\/p>\n The beginning of the holy month of Ramadan was a major topic of conversation, with pages announcing the sighting of the new moon and sharing holiday greetings. The page Iraq Telescope<\/a> (Post Impact: 54%)<\/strong> posted what it claimed was the first telescope image of the Ramadan crescent from Baghdad, noting its age was “1 day and 3 hours.<\/em>” Similarly, From Baghdad<\/a> (Post Impact: 29%)<\/strong> shared the same photo and details. Many public figures extended greetings, including actor Aziz Nasser<\/a> (Post Impact: 38%)<\/strong> and former football star Younis Mahmoud<\/a> (Post Impact: 11%)<\/strong>. Pages such as Diyala TV<\/a> (Post Impact: 5%)<\/strong> and Yani Tafadal (Meaning Please)<\/a> (Post Impact: 5%)<\/strong> also reported that the office of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani had declared Thursday as the first day of Ramadan.<\/p>\n A significant political narrative involved reports of US opposition to former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki potentially returning to power. The page Al-Khuwa al-Nadhifa (The Clean Brotherhood)<\/a> (Post Impact: 24%)<\/strong> cited a US State Department spokesperson who allegedly said that choosing al-Maliki would “lead to a reassessment of the relationship with Iraq<\/em>” and have negative consequences for the Iraqi people. The same page later added that the Iraqi Foreign Ministry received a US message about potential sanctions if al-Maliki is appointed (Post Impact: 11%)<\/strong>. These concerns were also mentioned by politician Baqir Jabr al-Zubaidi<\/a> (Post Impact: 5%)<\/strong>, who wrote that the US sent messages objecting to certain figures and threatened economic sanctions.<\/p>\n A highly engaged post by Member of Parliament Mustafa Sanad – Mustafa Sanad<\/a> (Post Impact: 79%)<\/strong> leveled serious accusations against the prime minister. In a video reel, Sanad claimed the prime minister is spending 400 billion Iraqi dinars from the state treasury and risking the flooding of Baghdad for the purpose of adding a single Member of Parliament to his electoral list. The post generated significant attention, making it one of the top individual stories of the day despite being from a single source.<\/p>\n The Ramadan television series “Hamdiya” became a topic of debate as conflicting reports emerged about whether it was banned. The page Set Ashwaq Umm al-Qanuniya (Ms. Ashwaq, the Legal Expert)<\/a> (Post Impact: 25%)<\/strong> questioned why the show was being broadcast on MBC Iraq after reports of its cancellation, asking, “How did they say it was banned from airing?<\/em>” This came after Ahmed al-Thawaq<\/a> (Post Impact: 9%)<\/strong> had reported that the Communications and Media Commission had banned the show’s broadcast. Adding to the confusion, Tech 4 Peace<\/a> (Post Impact: 6%)<\/strong> confirmed that the channel did indeed air the series, noting that no official statement had been issued by the commission to clarify the situation.<\/p>\n A security incident in the Kurdistan Region was reported by multiple pages. Al-Khuwa al-Nadhifa (The Clean Brotherhood)<\/a> (Post Impact: 20%)<\/strong> reported that an unidentified drone targeted a Land Cruiser on the Sulaymaniyah-Dukan road, resulting in one person killed and another seriously injured. The page Baghdad<\/a> (Post Impact: 2%)<\/strong> also covered the event, specifically attributing the attack to a “Turkish drone.<\/em>”<\/p>\n Several pages highlighted a proposal to provide financial relief to public sector employees and retirees during Ramadan. The page Maher Mohi::Sawt Humat al-Watan (Voice of the Homeland’s Protectors)<\/a> (Post Impact: 12%)<\/strong> shared that MP Yasser Iskandar had called on the prime minister to stop deductions for loans and advances for all government employees, security forces, and retirees during the holy month. The page Support for Iraqi Security Forces<\/a> (Post Impact: 5%)<\/strong> also posted about the official request made by the MP, framing it as a humanitarian gesture for the month of Ramadan.<\/p>\n A recurring theme on security-focused pages was the escalating military posturing between the United States and Iran. The Tactical Cell<\/a> (Post Impact: 8%)<\/strong> provided a summary of Israeli media reports suggesting a joint US-Israeli military operation against Iran is imminent, while noting an internal debate within the Trump administration. The page also detailed significant US military deployments to the Middle East. Similarly, Steven Nabil<\/a> (Post Impact: 5%)<\/strong> cited a CBS report stating that senior national security officials have informed President Trump the military is ready for potential strikes against Iran. This narrative was further supported by Rusly Al-Maliki<\/a> (Post Impact: 4%)<\/strong>, who quoted Israeli outlets N12 and Ynet on Israeli security services being on high alert for war.<\/p>\n The official page of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani shared updates on his recent activities. The page Engineer Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani<\/a> (Post Impact: 10%)<\/strong> reported on his meeting with the Speaker of Parliament, Hibat Hamad al-Halbousi, to discuss the completion of constitutional requirements. Another post detailed a meeting focused on improving the collection of electricity fees (Post Impact: 7%)<\/strong>, in which the Prime Minister directed ministry staff to redouble their efforts during Ramadan. He also met with members of the Badr parliamentary bloc to discuss national partnership and the formation of a new government (Post Impact: 2%)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n With the start of Ramadan, pages began promoting the new season of Iraqi television series. Erbil Events<\/a> (Post Impact: 5%)<\/strong> published a detailed guide to the new shows, including “Hamdiya,” “Sharara,” and “Abjad Halwas,” listing their air times and channels. Specific shows were also promoted by their stars, such as Ahmed Waheed<\/a> (Post Impact: 5%)<\/strong> announcing the first episode of his new series “Antar and Laila.” The page Baghdad<\/a> (Post Impact: 2%)<\/strong> promoted the comedy series “Abjad Halwas,” starring Iyad Radhi and Alaa Hussein, encouraging viewers to watch it on the Al-Manasa platform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Based on an analysis of (498) Facebook posts trending on February 18, 2026, Miqrab AI identified several key themes and narratives dominating online discussions in Iraq. The most significant traffic was driven by political statements from the office of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which achieved the highest engagement. The beginning of the holy month of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,73,78],"tags":[82,52,81,84],"class_list":["post-9980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-facebook","category-iraq","category-daily","tag-daily-reports","tag-iraq-daily-social-media-trends","tag-iraq-public-opinion","tag-trending-facebook"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9980"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9981,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9980\/revisions\/9981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. Crescent Sighting and Ramadan Greetings<\/h2>\n
3. US Reportedly Warns Against Nouri al-Maliki Premiership<\/h2>\n
4. MP Mustafa Sanad Accuses PM of Corruption<\/h2>\n
5. Controversy Over Ramadan TV Series “Hamdiya”<\/h2>\n
6. Drone Strike Targets Vehicle in Sulaymaniyah<\/h2>\n
7. Calls to Halt Loan Repayments During Ramadan<\/h2>\n
8. Rising Military Tensions Between US and Iran<\/h2>\n
9. Prime Minister Al-Sudani’s Official Meetings<\/h2>\n
10. Guide to Iraqi Ramadan Television Series<\/h2>\n