Tradition and worry at an iftar gathering near the Iran-Iraq border in photos

GULP, Iraq (AP) — At the foot of the mountains along Iraq’s border with Iran, a Kurdish family gathers in the village of Gulp, near Halabja, to prepare iftar, the evening meal that breaks the daily fast during Ramadan.

As children play and relatives come together to mark the final days of the holy month, the warmth of the gathering is tempered by concern just across the border.

Nyan Fayaq worries for her relatives in Iran’s Kurdish city of Saqqez, whom she has not been able to reach for a month.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

A sign displays a prayer that reads in Arabic: "Oh Allah, send blessings upon our prophet, and upon his family, and companions", on a road near the village of Gulp, Iraq, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Women prepare Iftar meal as they take part in a family gathering during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the village of Gulp, Iraq, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A boy runs past a flock of sheep during a family gathering to break the fast with an Iftar meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the village of Gulp, Iraq, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Shepherds arrive with their flock of sheep as their family prepares to break the fast with an Iftar meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the village of Gulp, Iraq, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Wearing a traditional dress, Parzhin Jasem, poses for a photo next to sheep belonging to her uncle as she takes part in a family gathering to break the fast with an Iftar meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the village of Gulp, Iraq, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

People take part in a family gathering to break the fast with an Iftar meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the village of Gulp, Iraq, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A girl holds her rabbit as she takes part in a family gathering to break the fast with an Iftar meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the village of Gulp, Iraq, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Women take part in a family gathering to break the fast with an Iftar meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the village of Gulp, Iraq, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Wearing traditional clothes young women take part in a family gathering at the village of Gulp, Iraq, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Women wearing traditional clothes prepare Iftar meal as they take part in a family gathering during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the village of Gulp, Iraq, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Women take part in a family gathering to break the fast with an Iftar meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the village of Gulp, Iraq, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts warned Tuesday that personal criticism of federal judges is dangerous and “it’s got to stop,” two days after President Donald Trump called a federal judge who ruled against the administration “wacky, nasty, crooked and totally out of control.”

As he has done before, Roberts was careful not to single out Trump or anyone else, insisting that the attacks on judges are not from “just any one political perspective.”

Criticism of judicial opinions “comes with the territory” and can be healthy, Roberts said in remarks at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston.

But it's different when the criticism moves away from legal analysis. “Personally directed hostility is dangerous and it’s got to stop,” Roberts said.

U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal, who shared the stage with the chief justice, thanked Roberts because “we always know that you have our backs and that means a great deal."

The U.S. Marshals Service, responsible for protecting judges, reported 564 threats in the government fiscal year that ended in September, up from the year before. Roberts acknowledged the “serious threats” by noting Congress has responded by increasing funding for judges' security.

Trump's most recent comments about judges came Sunday in a post on his Truth Social following a ruling by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg quashing subpoenas the Justice Department had issued to the Federal Reserve.

Boasberg, Trump wrote, is “a Wacky, Nasty, Crooked, and totally Out of Control Judge” who “suffers from the highest level of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), and has been ‘after’ my people, and me, for years.”

Last year, Roberts publicly rejected Trump's call for Boasberg’s impeachment when the judge blocked additional deportations to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The president also has been highly critical of Roberts and the five other justices who struck down global tariffs he imposed under an emergency powers law. Trump said he was “absolutely ashamed” of the members of the court who ruled against him, questioning their patriotism and singling out two of his own appointees, Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch.

Trump's allies and administration officials also have joined in the criticism. After U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston on Monday blocked the administration's effort to reshape vaccines policy, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche noted that other rulings from Murphy had been upended.

“How many times can Judge Murphy get reversed in one year? The same day he is stayed for repeatedly refusing to follow the law, he issues another activist decision. We will keep appealing these lawless decisions, and we will keep winning. The question is, how much embarrassment can this Judge take?” Blanche posted on X.

FILE - Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court John Roberts speaks during a lecture to the Georgetown Law School graduating class in Washington on May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

FILE - John Roberts, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, speaks during lecture to the Georgetown Law School graduating class of 2025, in Washington, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)