Ahmad Al-Basheer

Ahmed Albasheer (; born 17 October 1984) is an Iraqi comedian, journalist, and director, best known as the creator and host of the weekly political satire show Albasheer Show. He was named one of the twenty most influential people in the Arab world by the Global Influence Research Centre.

Early life Albasheer was born and raised in Ramadi, Iraq, He lost several family members during the Iraq War, including his brother and father, and was himself kidnapped and tortured by a militia in 2005. Albasheer trained as a journalist at Nahrain University in Baghdad and went on to work for state-owned Iraqi television.

Career Until 2011, Albasheer worked for eight years as a political correspondent for Iraq's state-run news channels. The show has changed channels multiple times since its premiere due to threats from the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission, and is currently broadcast from outside of Iraq on Deutsche Welle's Arabic channel, in addition to on YouTube, where the show has amassed over five million subscribers as of 2021. Albasheer Show has been cited as playing an integral role in the anti-government 2019–2021 Iraqi protests.

In 2020, Albasheer featured in the critically acclaimed documentary series Once Upon a Time in Iraq.

2026 Presidential Election On 31 December 2025, Ahmed Albasheer announced his candidacy for the Iraqi presidency in the 2026 elections. He described in his candidacy statement that he ran due to “ Given the political and economic challenges facing our beloved country, and stemming from our commitment to our national duty towards Iraq…”. Later, his candidacy was rejected due to him, in exile, not able to attend the physical examination required.

Personal life In 2011, after being injured in a suicide bombing, Albasheer moved to Amman, Jordan, where he resided until 2019.