Iran said its novel coronavirus death toll surpassed 1,000 on Wednesday as President Hassan Rouhani defended the response of his administration, which has yet to impose a lockdown. The COVID-19 outbreak in sanctions-hit Iran is one of the deadliest outside China, where the disease...

Iraq's typically divided Shiite political parties lined up on Wednesday to signal their opposition to premier-designate Adnan al-Zurfi, less than 24 hours after his nomination. The 54-year-old lawmaker and former Najaf governor was nominated Tuesday to be Iraq's new prime minister, the...

Confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel have jumped by 40 percent to 427 in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, predicting a steeper rise as mass-testing is implemented. Having urged Israelis to stay home and approved cyber-monitoring of their movements to reduce...

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that Middle East states need to offer more information about coronavirus cases to help bolster the fight against the disease across the region. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said the regional...