Iraqi forces closed in Monday on Tal Afar on the second day of an offensive against the last major bastion of Daesh (ISIS) in the country's north, after seizing several villages around the city. The offensive launched at dawn Sunday comes only weeks after Iraqi forces seized second city...

 German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized Turkey's use of an Interpol arrest warrant to detain a German writer in Spain, telling an election town hall event on Sunday that this amounted to abuse of the international police agency. Dogan Akhanli was stopped in Spain on Saturday...

Iraq's Kurds may consider the possibility of postponing a planned Sept. 25 referendum on independence in return for financial and political concessions from the central government in Baghdad, a senior Kurdish official said. A Kurdish delegation is visiting Baghdad to sound out proposals from...

The Iranian parliament voted on Sunday to keep the oil and foreign ministers, two of pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani's key members of cabinet, in their posts. Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has been credited with the boost in Iran's crude output since many global sanctions were lifted last...