Abstarct: The interdependence of language and culture is increasingly recognized as fundamental to meaningful language education, yet English language teaching materials in Iraqi classrooms remain dominated by Western cultural content with limited representation of local Iraqi culture. This study investigated Iraqi EFL teachers’ attitudes toward integrating Iraqi cultural content into ELT materials and examined the pedagogical beliefs and contextual factors influencing these attitudes. Employing a descxriptive qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Iraqi EFL teachers from secondary schools and universities across Iraq. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis frxamework. The findings revealed generally positive attitudes toward the integration of Iraqi cultural content, with 83.3% of teachers expressing positive or strongly positive attitudes. Teachers perceived local cultural content as valuable for enhancing student motivation, classroom engagement, speaking confidence, vocabulary learning, and cultural identity. In particular, 83.3% associated cultural integration with affirmation of cultural identity, while 77.8% highlighted its role in fostering pride in Iraqi culture. However, significant contextual barriers were identified. An overloaded curriculum and lack of time were reported by 94.4% of teachers, while 88.9% identified pressure from high-stakes national examinations as a major obstacle. Furthermore, 83.3% reported minimal Iraqi cultural content in required textbooks and a lack of supplementary materials. Despite these constraints, teachers demonstrated professional agency by adapting existing lessons, incorporating local examples, developing supplementary resources, and collaborating with colleagues. The study concludes that positive teacher attitudes alone are insufficient to ensure systematic cultural integration and that sustainable implementation requires coordinated changes in curriculum, assessment, instructional resources, teacher education, professional development, and institutional support.