An Iranian delegation will meet Saudi officials next week to discuss arrangements for this year's hajj pilgrimage, the first dialogue between the rival powers since a diplomatic crisis erupted in January. Riyadh severed diplomatic ties with Iran on Jan. 3, a day after its missions in Tehran...

Ali Allawi, whom Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi nominated last week to serve as finance minister in a new technocratic government, withdrew his candidacy on Wednesday, citing "political interventions and partisan bickering". Allawi is at least the second ministerial...

Breakaway forces in Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region said a ceasefire agreed with Azeri forces on Tuesday largely held overnight. "Last night, the ceasefire was generally maintained along the contact line," the Nagorno-Karabakh military said in a statement on Wednesday.

One Turkish soldier was lightly wounded on Tuesday after a military outpost in the southeastern province of Gaziantep came under fire from Islamic State militants from across the Syrian border, privately owned Dogan News agency said. Turkey's military responded in kind and fired...