Based on an analysis of 560 X \/ Twitter posts trending on February 18, 2026, Miqrab AI identified several dominant narratives circulating in Iraq. The most prominent theme revolves around escalating regional tensions, with numerous accounts sharing reports of an imminent US-Iran military conflict and discussing its potential repercussions for Iraq. Domestically, a viral AI-generated video depicting revered historical figures serving current politicians sparked widespread outrage and an official government response. This coincided with discussions about US directives to the Iraqi government concerning security sector reform, including the integration of the Popular Mobilization Units into the armed forces. Other significant topics included praise for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, political maneuvering over high-level government positions, and social media posts marking the beginning of Ramadan with calls for peace and unity.<\/p>\n
A viral, AI-generated video has caused widespread controversy and condemnation for depicting celebrated Iraqi national symbols, the poet Mohammed Mahdi Al-Jawahiri and former Prime Minister Nuri al-Said, serving tea to current Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani and Speaker of Parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi. Accounts such as Rusly Al-Maliki<\/a> (Post Impact: 9%)<\/strong> and Faiq Al-Sheikh Ali\/Kalmati Lil Tarikh<\/a> (Post Impact: 13%)<\/strong> strongly criticized the video as insulting and a sign of disrespect. The controversy prompted an official response from the Prime Minister’s Media Office<\/a> (Post Impact: 3%)<\/strong>, which rejected the video’s content, announced an investigation by the Communications and Media Commission, and reserved the right to sue the producers. Other commentators, including Othman Al-Mokhtar<\/a> (Post Impact: 5%)<\/strong> and Yasser Eljuboori<\/a> (Post Impact: 4%)<\/strong>, also weighed in, criticizing both the video’s creators and the political climate it reflects.<\/p>\n Reports of escalating tensions and the possibility of an imminent war between the United States and Iran dominated conversations. Several accounts shared information suggesting significant US military mobilization in the Middle East. Rusly Al-Maliki<\/a> (Post Impact: 8%)<\/strong> cited the news site Axios, reporting on evidence that a US-Iran war is “imminent” and could begin “within days,” detailing a massive deployment of US naval and air assets. Steven Nabil<\/a> (Post Impact: 7%)<\/strong> noted a large number of US military aircraft heading towards the region. In a similar vein, Dr. Ali Al-Jabiri<\/a> (Post Impact: 4%)<\/strong> referenced Israeli Channel 12, stating everything would be ready for a US attack within a week. Iranian officials responded defiantly, with an advisor to the Iranian parliament speaker quoted by Steven Nabil<\/a> (Post Impact: 6%)<\/strong> as saying, “Iran is ready to teach America a lesson that will change history.”<\/em><\/p>\n A number of accounts expressed strong support and admiration for Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Najah Mohammed Ali<\/a> (Post Impact: 13%)<\/strong> shared a post stating, “Sayyid Khamenei is the Supreme Leader, and all his enemies are in the dustbin of history; he is the one who makes history.”<\/em> This sentiment was echoed by Dr. Hussein Al-Safi<\/a> (Post Impact: 9%)<\/strong>, who shared a video with the caption, “I have not seen a person as courageous as the courage of the Sayyid al-Wali.”<\/em> The posts portray Khamenei as a powerful and historically significant figure whose leadership is unassailable.<\/p>\n Details of messages delivered by the United States to Iraq regarding government formation and security reforms were widely circulated. According to Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, as reported by accounts like Hisham Ali<\/a> (Post Impact: 6%)<\/strong> and Ali Farhan<\/a> (Post Impact: 3%)<\/strong>, the American demands include the “integration of the Hashd [PMU] into the Ministry of Defense, disarming factions, and reorganizing the Central Bank.” Separately, a statement from the US Embassy in Baghdad, highlighted by Steven Nabil<\/a> (Post Impact: 5%)<\/strong> and Hydar<\/a> (Post Impact: 2%)<\/strong>, affirmed Washington’s readiness to use “the full range of available tools to counter Iran’s destabilizing activities in Iraq.”<\/p>\n Numerous political figures and entities shared greetings to mark the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s office announced the start of Ramadan, as reported by Hydar<\/a> (Post Impact: 6%)<\/strong>. Political leaders such as Ammar Al-Hakim<\/a> (Post Impact: 5%)<\/strong>, former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi<\/a> (Post Impact: 4%)<\/strong>, and former President Barham Salih<\/a> (Post Impact: 2%)<\/strong> issued statements calling for unity, peace, and stability in Iraq and across the Muslim world. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad<\/a> (Post Impact: 2%)<\/strong> also extended greetings to the Iraqi people.<\/p>\n Political maneuvering over the appointment of the Army Chief of Staff has drawn criticism online. The account Adam<\/a> (Post Impact: 12%)<\/strong> sarcastically praised the Sunni Speaker of Parliament for “saving” the position from falling into Kurdish hands and keeping it with a “patriotic Iraqi officer,” implying the officer in question is aligned with pro-Iran factions. This sentiment was amplified by Dr. Yahya Al-Kubaisi<\/a> (Post Impact: 2%)<\/strong>, who described the move as a “dirty deal” that has undermined any possibility of demanding national balance in senior state positions and has cost Sunni Arabs the position of intelligence chief.<\/p>\n Conflicting reports emerged about a deadly drone strike on a convoy traveling between Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk. The account Mujtahid Al-Iraq<\/a> (Post Impact: 6%)<\/strong> reported the assassination of a “leading Iranian or militia figure” in an armored convoy hit by a suicide drone, resulting in the death of the target and injuries to two escorts. However, a post by Hydar<\/a> (Post Impact: 3%)<\/strong> identified the target as the Secretary-General of the Iranian-Kurdish opposition party “Komala,” stating that he survived but one of his party members was killed in the attack. Cliff Captain<\/a> (Post Impact: 3%)<\/strong> also shared a video from the scene, questioning who was assassinated.<\/p>\n Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission (CMC) decided to ban the broadcast of the television series “Hamdiya” on MBC Iraq. According to posts by Dr. Hussein Al-Safi<\/a> (Post Impact: 4%)<\/strong> and Mahmoud Al-Rubaie<\/a> (Post Impact: 3%)<\/strong>, the decision was made because the series was deemed to contain “insults and distortion of the image of Iraqi women and incitement to sedition.” The decision followed public demands to prevent the broadcast of material that could be offensive during Ramadan. However, Najah Mohammed Ali<\/a> (Post Impact: 3%)<\/strong> suggested that MBC might defy the ban, posting that the channel released a new promotional clip for the series in a “clear challenge” to the CMC’s decision.<\/p>\n The Iraqi government has decided to penalize any citizen who joins the armed forces of another country. The decision was announced by the National Security Advisory, as reported by Rusly Al-Maliki<\/a> (Post Impact: 8%)<\/strong>, who expressed support for the measure and called for its immediate implementation. According to Hydar<\/a> (Post Impact: 2%)<\/strong>, the move came from a newly formed “Committee to Combat the Recruitment of Iraqis into the Russian Army.” The committee will also hold accountable tourism companies that facilitate such actions and combat the financing and recruitment networks involved.<\/p>\n Iraqi security forces reported multiple successful counter-narcotics operations. The Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced a “qualitative operation” in Homs, Syria, resulting in the arrest of two individuals and the seizure of 400,000 Captagon pills, as shared by Hydar<\/a> (Post Impact: 5%)<\/strong>. Separately, Steven Nabil<\/a> (Post Impact: 5%)<\/strong> reported on the arrest of an Iranian traveler at the Shalamja border crossing who was caught with Tramadol pills hidden inside a bag of rice. These incidents highlight ongoing efforts by Iraqi authorities to combat the trafficking of illegal narcotics across its borders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Based on an analysis of 560 X \/ Twitter posts trending on February 18, 2026, Miqrab AI identified several dominant narratives circulating in Iraq. The most prominent theme revolves around escalating regional tensions, with numerous accounts sharing reports of an imminent US-Iran military conflict and discussing its potential repercussions for Iraq. Domestically, a viral AI-generated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,73,78],"tags":[82,52,81,83],"class_list":["post-9982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-twitter-x","category-iraq","category-daily","tag-daily-reports","tag-iraq-daily-social-media-trends","tag-iraq-public-opinion","tag-trending-x-twitter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9982","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=9982"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9984,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9982\/revisions\/9984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. Fears of Imminent US-Iran War Grow<\/h2>\n
3. Praise for Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei<\/h2>\n
4. US Delivers Demands on PMU Integration and Reforms<\/h2>\n
5. Political Leaders and Embassies Mark Start of Ramadan<\/h2>\n
6. Controversy Surrounds Army Chief of Staff Appointment<\/h2>\n
7. Reports of Drone Assassination in Sulaymaniyah<\/h2>\n
8. Ban on TV Series “Hamdiya” Sparks Debate<\/h2>\n
9. Iraq to Punish Citizens Joining Foreign Armies<\/h2>\n
10. Major Drug Busts Highlight Narcotics Trafficking<\/h2>\n