Iraqi Kurdistan Heads Toward Regional Parliamentary Election

SULAYMANIYAH PROVINCE, NORTHERN IRAQ. A Peshmerga soldier guards a checkpoint just 5 miles from the Iranian border in the mountainous northern region of Kurdistan on September 30, 2024. The semi-autonomous region is holding its parliamentary election on Oct. 20, two years after it was originally scheduled. The ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) had boycotted a previous election date after it objected to a federal supreme court ruling that changed the electoral system.(Photo by Giles Clarke/Getty Images)