The British occupation was succeeded by a mandate under the League or Nations and, on 23 August 1921, the Emir Faisal was proclaimed king. Mosul vilayet was transferred to Iraq by the League of Nations in December 1925. The mandate was given up on 3 October 1932 in favour of an independent kingdom, though Britain retained rights of transit and air bases at Habbaniya and Shaibah. In 1941 a pro-German government posed a threat countered by British military action in May-June. King Faisal II was assassinated on 14 July 1958 and a republic declared. A further military coup d'etat occured in 1963.

Postal History
An efficient Assyrian postal service carrying merchants' letters written in cuneiform on clay tablets and enclosed in addressed (clay) envelopes is known by finds on many sites over a wide area. In the 8th and 9th centuries BC the Assyrian royal post reached to the capitals of subject states.

Turkish POs operated from (?) 1863 at Baghdad, Basra, Kirkuk, Mosul and elsewhere. Indian POs were open in Baghdad and Basra in 1868-1914. Troops in Iraq in World War I used stamps of India overprinted I.E.F. (see India) in their FPOs.

Stamps of Turkey used in 1863-1917 have town cancellations in Arabic script.

Stamps of India can be identified by cancellations of Baghdad (alternative spelling Bagdad) or Basra (Bussorah or Busreh).

The RAF operated a desert airmail in 1921-27 between Baghdad and Cairo which was taken over by Imperial Airways in 1927 and extended to Basra as the first regular stage of the service planned for India and Australia. In 1923 Nairn Transport Company ran a motorized 'Overland Mail': Baghdad-Damascus-Haifa. There were 352 POs in 1973.

Middle East after 1916
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For details of the Gulf War 1990-1991, see the section on Kuwait, under the Persian Gulf.